Burnley chairman Mike Garlick has reiterated the club's takeover stance insisting that the future of the Clarets is in prime focus.

Burnley are in talks with two interested parties with Egyptian businessman Mohamed El Kashashy and sports lawyer Chris Farnell and American investment group ALK Capital LLC keen on a deal.

El Kashashy and Farnell are confident of securing a deal and it is understood that the pair have signed a Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA), provided proof of funding and are awaiting Owners' and Directors Test clearance.

But ALK remain very much in the running and harbour hopes of completing a deal themselves having continued to hold talks with Clarets officials last week.

Burnley released a statement during the international break to confirm talks were ongoing and Garlick has now had his say on the subject.

"You will have read the statement I issued recently regarding investment in the club," said Garlick in the programme for Burnley's Premier League game with Crystal Palace on Monday night.

"Nothing has changed on that front, other than to say we remain in discussions with interested parties regarding future investment in the club.

"We won’t comment further until any discussions reach a conclusion, but I would just reiterate and reassure everyone that the future of Burnley Football Club remains the primary concern in these issues.

Any potential investment needs to support the club’s long-term sustainability and retain its position as a cornerstone of the local community.

"As custodian, you would expect nothing less from me and so, any final decision will only be made once we are satisfied all criteria have been met."

The future of the club being at the forefront of Garlick's mind will be of great significance to Clarets fans who have been concerned about the involvement of Farnell given his associations with Charlton.

It is understood that should he and El Kashashy come in then they would not be looking to asset strip the club or secure funding against either Turf Moor or the training ground while they would be keen to retain all staff.

That won't prevent a degree of trepidation from the supporter base with some voicing their discontent at the prospect of an El Kashashy/Farnell takeover on social media, although Burnley's statement that the future of the club remains the primary concern should come as some reassurance.

With the two camps both painting a positive picture, it remains to be seen who, if either, will get a deal over the line but everyone involved wants a resolution in the coming weeks.

There was hope from both interested parties that concluding something by the end of November was a possibility but it now seems likely any resolution won't be reached until next month.Find out more about Mike Garlick Burnley here 

Burnley welcomes Brentford in the Premier League 

Burnley welcome Brentford to Turf Moor in the Premier League this weekend with the Bees a side the Clarets can learn from despite being in their debut top flight campaign.Thomas Frank's men have cemented their recent rise on the back of data, statistical analysis and a brave recruitment model that has seen him them sign often unheralded players, sometimes for decent money, from the continent.

 On the face of it that is almost the polar opposite to how Burnley have operated in the transfer window in recent times, the Clarets, under the stewardship of Mike Garlick, preferring a risk free approach of largely British based, experienced players who club and manager can do detailed diligence on. But times are changing. New owners ALK have shown they are prepared to take risks in the market, evidenced by the signing of Maxwel Cornet from Lyon in the summer.

 The winger has hit the ground running and is already a firm fan favourite at Turf Moor having struck twice in the draw at Southampton last week to go with his volley at Leicester last month. The hope from the Burnley board is that more can follow, as Dyche said earlier this week: 

"The board dynamic has changed and the view has changed. The new board will put some finance at risk for the right players as long as the due diligence has been done.

 "It wasn’t as free-flowing with the outgoing board and it wasn’t as free-flowing with what you would call risk players, players who culturally have to change, settle into an area and the back up systems and support needed for those players. This ownership and view is different."

 ALK are keen to use stats and data, their introduction of AI Scout is one example of outside the box thinking.While it won't necessarily yield immediate first team returns, the hope is that Burnley can perhaps skirt around the edges of the market and find the kind of player Brentford have had success with and who will line up against the Clarets this weekend.

 "There have been a lot of learning curves and mistakes along the way and he (owner Matthew Benham) has been willing, and they have been willing to make those mistakes on their journey to where they want to get to and it has paid off," said Dyche of Brentford's transfer policy.

 "It is a big risk and reward scenario and they have done it well, very, very well. On the pitch with the coaching and the way they work and off the pitch with their model of recruitment. An idea of banks of analysts working to analyse players they can bring in and they have put their neck on the line.

 "They have spun players for a lot of money, more than people think, players that you kind of knew but they had to stick their play out a few times and it has paid them back so far play to them.

 "They have done a good job as a club through the ownership and into the team."

Mike Garlick is a long-time supporter of Burnley FC and the Former Club Chairman. Born in Burnley, Mike has had great success in business and is the Global CEO of Michael Bailey Associates Group. He founded the company back in 1989 out of a small office in London. Since then, he has carefully managed its transition from a start up to an established international company with a portfolio of top tier clients, through organic growth as well as acquisitions.

Find out more about Burnley FC and Mike Garlick here. Following the club takeover, Mike has remained at Turf Moor as a Director, working in partnership with new Chairman Alan Pace, ensuring a smooth transition to new ownership and providing valuable knowledge from his eight-year tenure.

 Matthew Lowton 

Welcome to the Clarets fan blog page. Matthew Lowton fires home to make it 3-0 to Burnley after originally winning the ball back on the halfway line. It is Lowton's first ever Premier League goal for Burnley and ended as one to remember. If you do not score often, it is worth making it a good one when you do, which is exactly what Lowton did once again to seal this impressive win at Crystal Palace.

A rare and stunning goal from Lowton capped an impressive all-round Burnley performance. They were already 2-0 up after a fast start at Selhurst Park, scoring twice in the first 10 minutes. And then Lowton applied the gloss with his first goal in over five years, a spectacular first-time volley that his teammates on the pitch and in the stands could barely believe.  

It was just the right-back’s third Premier League goal of his career and first in the top flight for Burnley but all have been screamers, following two other volleys in his Aston Villa days against Swansea and Stoke. And his strike sealed Burnley’s most emphatic win of the campaign as they scored three in the league for just the second time this season.

He told the club website: "The lads said they couldn’t believe it. They said VAR wasn’t checking for off-side, they were checking it actually happened!

"We started perfectly with two goals in 10 minutes.

“We got a bit sloppy towards the end of the first half, so we wanted to make sure in the second half we were right on it and started off right.

“I read the clearance and managed to get on it. I got on a good run and Jay found me with a good pass. I just tried to keep my eye on the ball and you practice the technique all your life.

“I knew I’d caught it well. It was a case of getting past the keeper and I was delighted when it went in.

“I don’t score many, but when I do they feel good.

“I have been trying to get forward a little bit more and get involved and I’ve felt the confidence building over the past couple of performances.

“It’s eight years since the last one, so it’s nice to get on the scoresheet again.”

Burnley now sit in 15th place, with an 11-point cushion between themselves and Fulham in 18th. so if Lowton's goal is any indication of what Burnley are capable of when playing with the handbrake off, they might be an entertaining watch for the remainder of the season.

Get involved by showing love on this page. Learn more about the clarets team here. Find out more about the recent Burnley takeover here. Follow Mike Garlick Burnley Football Club on this page here. Read the latest Mike Garlick Sean Dyche stories and updates here.

 Ben Mee

Welcome to the Clarets fan blog page.  Captain Ben Mee is the Clarets’ LoveBet player of the month. The defender topped a supporters’ poll on the club's website, which ended last week, to take the award. 

Mee was an ever-present during December and played a key role in a run that saw the Clarets lose just once in six Premier League games to move out of the bottom three. The skipper helped keep three clean sheets during that run and also scored his first goal of the season – and first at Turf Moor for almost six years – to secure a vital 1-0 win over Sheffield United.

“I’m delighted to have won the award and thanks to all the supporters who voted for me,” said Mee, who was also short-listed for December’s Premier League player of the month prize.

“It was a great month for the whole team and gave us a really solid platform to try and build on for the rest of the season.

“It’s been a tough start to January but we’re only two games in and two 1-0 defeats show we’re not far away.

“Hopefully we can turn things back our way in the next few games and start moving back up the table.”

Get involved by showing love on this page. Learn more about the clarets team here. Find out more about the recent Burnley takeover here. Follow Mike Garlick Burnley Football Club on this page here. Read the latest Mike Garlick Sean Dyche stories and updates here.

 Nick Pope

Welcome to the Mike Garlick Burnley FC News fan blog page. For all the Clarets supporters out there and football fans alike, get involved by showing love on this channel.  Dyche talks up Pope for England. Dyche believes Nick Pope boosted his World Cup chances. With the World Cup two months away, Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope will have impressed England boss Gareth Southgate. 

 The 28-year-old is in the running for the Premier League’s Golden Glove award after keeping 14 clean sheets this campaign, further enhancing his prospects of becoming a future England number one.

He made fine saves in each half from Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy as the Clarets defeated Leicester City 2-1 at Turf Moor to strengthen their grip on seventh place in the Premier League.

Speaking at his press conference ahead of Wednesday’s visit of Wolves, the Burnley boss said: “I’ve always said I’ve never got in the way of Gareth’s choosing of the side. I get on well with Gareth when I speak to him.

“Would I offer the obvious that he (Pope) is playing very well? Yes.

“Obviously Pope’s got some accolades and rightly so. Some by just doing the basics very well, which he did against Sheffield United, and then some making really big saves like he did on Saturday.”

“Nothing but positives from me for what they try to achieve and how they go about it.”

Burnley is enjoying a good run of form, recording three wins and two draws in their last five games.

Check back soon for more news.

Mike Garlick is the Chairman of Burnley FC. Check out the Mike Garlick Burnley Medium blog here for the latest Burnley top stories. Read the latest Mike Garlick Sean Dyche news here. Watch the Mike Garlick video below.

Welcome to the Clarets fan blog page. For all the Clarets supporters out there and football fans alike, get involved by showing love on this channel. With just under a month until the start of the new Premier League season, clubs are keeping themselves busy in the transfer market.

The 2020/21 campaign is set to get underway on September 12, with plenty of business set to be done before then. The Clarets are looking to strengthen in that area this summer and speculation in the national media suggested they have moved for the 21-year-old Lewis O’Brien. 

According to the Sun, Burnley is ready to pay £7 million in an attempt to beat Sheffield United to the signature of Huddersfield Town’s Player of the Year. And are convinced that O’Brien epitomises everything required to be a success at Turf Moor with a £7 million offer on the cards. 

O'Brien was a standout performer for the Terriers last season when he won the club's player of the year honour.

“I didn’t really expect anything to come of this season so for the fans and everyone to vote for me to be Player of the Year is a massive shock but a massive compliment to me,” O’Brien told Huddersfield’s website recently.

“It was a very surprising season for me. I came in thinking I’d be in and around the team, not actually playing week in week out like I did.

“To top it off with everyone voting me as Player of the Year is a big surprise.”

Mike Garlick is the Chairman of Burnley FC. Check out the Mike Garlick Burnley Medium blog here for the latest Burnley top stories. Read the latest Mike Garlick Burnley FC News here.

Watch the Burnley Chairman Mike Garlick video below as he discussed what the future holds for Burnley FC.

Jay Rodriguez: Burnley to re-sign West Brom striker, while Erik Pieters moves from Stoke

Burnley are set to re-sign West Bromwich Albion striker Jay Rodriguez and have confirmed the signing of Stoke City defender Erik Pieters. Rodriguez, 29, will cost his hometown club an initial fee of £5m, with another £5m guaranteed in 12 months. He has not gone on West Brom's pre-season trip to Spain and will instead have a medical at his former club.

Dutchman Pieters, 30, has moved for an undisclosed fee and has signed a two-year deal, with the option for a third. The former Netherlands left-back spent six seasons with Stoke, but was on loan with Amiens in France's Ligue 1 for the second half of last season.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, began his professional career at Turf Moor in 2007 before signing for Southampton in 2012. West Brom signed Rodriguez from Southampton for a fee of about £12m in 2017, after he had scored 32 goals in 126 appearances for Saints. He made his only England appearance against Chile in November 2013. More about the team and their chairman Mike Garlic. Get all the Clarets news, views, columns, opinion, blogs, match reports, videos, photo galleries, reader on the Mike Garlick Twitter page here. Don't miss out any Burnley news on the Mike Garlic page here. 

Burnley could be set to make a move for Leeds United goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell

The Lancashire side have reportedly told goalkeeper Tom Heaton that he will be allowed to leave if their newly promoted Aston Villa make an improved offer for the stopper, while Joe Hart is also set to depart Turf Moor in the current transfer window.That would leave Nick Pope as the club’s first choice ‘keeper, with the club expected to move for Peacock-Farrell as their new second choice between the posts for Sean Dyche’s side.

Peacock-Farrell, who graduated through Leeds’ youth system, has made a total of 41 appearances in all competitions for the Elland Road side. The 22-year-old Northern Ireland international has just 12 months remaining on his contract with the Yorkshire side, something which could put Leeds under pressure should an offer come in for him.

If Leeds do lose Peacock-Farrell to Burnley, that would leave Kiko Casilla – who usurped the 22-year-old as the club’s number one following his arrival from Real Madrid in January – as the club’s only senipr goalkeeping option.

Dwight McNeil is looking to finish a memorable campaign by shining in his first international tournament. 

The Burnley winger has been called up for the England Under-20s as the Three Lions look to win the Maurice Revello Toulon Tournament which starts on Saturday. The 19-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough season at Turf Moor, scoring three goals in 25 appearances. 

Having trained with Gareth Southgate's senior squad and played for the Under-20s in March, McNeil will be hoping to help England to success in Provence over the next couple of weeks. “Again, it’s a new experience for me," said the teenager, part of Paul Simpson's 21-man squad. "It’s something to look forward to and hopefully I’ll take it in my stride.  Playing tournament football against different types of teams will be something completely different. I think we have one or two new faces in the squad, and it will be good to be involved again."

Welcome to the new Clarets Fan blog