Burnley forward Michael Obafemi to miss start of season with hamstring injury
Ireland striker Michael Obafemi will miss the start of the season.
Burnley forward Michael Obafemi will miss the start of the Premier League season with a hamstring injury suffered while on international duty.
The 22-year-old tore his hamstring in the Republic of Ireland’s 3-0 win over Gibraltar and will undergo an operation later this week before beginning a rehabilitation process.
Obafemi joined the Clarets on loan from Swansea in January, and scored two goals in 14 appearances as they won the Championship league tile and promotion to the Premier League.
Michael Obafemi suffers injury
The injury will be a blow to Vincent Kompany’s attacking options as Burnley make their return to the Premier League.
The Clarets reportedly remain in talks to re-sign Nathan Tella from Southampton after he topped Burnley’s scoring charts with 19 goals last term.
They should, at least, be strong at the other end of the pitch. Ireland international Dara O’Shea joined them from West Bromwich Albion last month, and they already had plentiful defensive options; including former St Patrick’s Athletic centre-back Luke McNally.
Irish transfer news.
Obafemi joined Burnley on a permanent basis on July 1st after spending the second half of last season at Turf Moor as part of a loan-to-buy agreement.
He is far from the only Irish international on the move this summer, however.
Earlier today, Brentford announced the club record signing of Kildare native Nathan Collins for £23 million.
The centre-back back left Wolves to also set the Irish transfer record for the second consecutive season.
Collins spent one season with Wolves after joining from Burnley but fell out of favour with manager Julien Lopetegui in the second half of the season.
He will hope to put that disappointment behind him to help Brentford kick on from last year’s impressive 9th place finish and potentially secure Conference League football.
You can find all your Irish transfer news – including updates on Kevin Zefi and Enda Stevens – with our Irish Football Transfer Centre.
Additional reporting from Ronan Calvert.
