Sister club Espanyol ran out the big winners on Sunday
Burnley’s have set their sights on making the Dude Perfect International Youth Cup the biggest and best academy tournament in the world.
It comes after another successful competition came to a close on Sunday, with Burnley’s ‘sister’ club Espanyol - also owned by Alan Pace - coming out on top.
The La Liga outfit overcame Dinamo Zagreb 3-2 in an entertaining final to claim the main prize, the Cup trophy, while Atalanta won the ‘Plate’ final with a 2-0 win over Sporting Lisbon.
Genk’s Under-14s beat Scottish giants Rangers 3-1 to take third place overall.
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The young Clarets, meanwhile, beat Tottenham and Toulouse on the final day to finish 13th in the 20-club tournament.
Global heavyweights Manchester United were the latest side to come on board this year, while American clubs Chicago Fire and FC Dallas were among those to travel thousands of miles to Gawthorpe.
The likes of Borussia Dortmund, PSV Eindhoven and Valencia were also involved.
But Burnley’s ownership have ambitious plans for the summer competition, which took place for the sixth straight year.
Russell Ball, director of fan experience, told the Burnley Express: “We've had a vision for a long time to try and grow this to be, frankly, the best tournament that can be available anywhere.
“To have so many top teams throughout Europe and North America attending is great, but we plan on expanding that even further as well.
“We're going to find there's going to be some chop and change with the teams. This time of year is a very competitive time to have tournaments.
“But our goal is to make this the one that everybody wants to come to. I think if it was up to Alan [Pace], we'd have every team in the world here. But the reality is obviously we've got limited space. But certainly, as far as I'm concerned, there's no limit.
“We were really hoping to get 24 teams this year. Logistically, that would have been possible, but there were a few challenges for us along the way. But next year, in my view, there'll be at least 24.”
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