Burnley will fight to keep hold of their academy starlet Kian McMahon-Brown.
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That’s the vow of Burnley’s academy manager Chris Casper, who believes the forward could be set for an exciting future with the club.
The 17-year-old comes to the end of his two-year scholarship this summer, but Burnley are in negotiations to tie him down to a longer-term professional contract.
It comes after the youngster won the club’s academy player of the season award, having bagged 11 goals playing above his age with Andy Farrell’s Under-21 side.
In addition to that, he also bagged a further five times as the Under-18s reached the quarter finals of the FA Youth Cup.
The striker, who was named on the bench for the first-team at Everton back in March and is expected to be called up for the Republic of Ireland’s Under-21 side this summer, also scored an impressive back heeled effort during the recent Premier League Cup final win over Sunderland.
With such a talented player on their hands, Casper is keen to tie him down for the future.
McMahon-Brown recently scored an incredible back heeled finish during Burnley's Premier League Cup final win. Picture: Kevin Hayden Photographyplaceholder image
McMahon-Brown recently scored an incredible back heeled finish during Burnley's Premier League Cup final win. Picture: Kevin Hayden Photography
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“The club are in negotiations to hopefully sort that out,” he told the Burnley Express. “Hopefully, we can get that sorted as soon as possible.
“He's a player that's really exciting for us and hopefully will be a big part of our future.”
Casper added: “Ultimately you've got budgets and things like that and we've got to make sure that it fits into what we believe in and what we have to work with.
“But we're doing everything we can for Kian to sign.”
While McMahon-Brown is known for his scoring exploits, Casper has been delighted with how he’s progressed and improved on other parts of his game.
“We all knew last year Kian could score goals, but the other side of his game, his physical aspect, his athleticism, is the real part of it that's really improved,” he said.
“So when you put it all together, his back-to-goal play is really good, he's very strong for his age. He's only 17, he's a young 17 as well, his movement, his mobility and obviously his goal-scoring, when you put all that together, we've got a pretty exciting prospect in our hands.”
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