On deadline day we covered claims from Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad that Burnley were making an attempt to hijack Sofiane Hanni’s move from Anderlecht to Spartak Moscow.
The basics of a deal for the player to move to Russia had outline agreement, but there wasn’t any rush from Spartak given their transfer window doesn’t close until later on this month.
Burnley’s intervention was said to have caused an issue over personal terms, with the suggestion being Hanni wanted more money than had otherwise been the case.
It looked potentially like a situation in which Burnley were being used to put pressure on others in negotiations.
Now another Belgian newspaper, HLN, says the interest from Burnley pressured Spartak into a quicker move, and they then completed a deal to sign Hanni for €8m.
That figure is more than what the Belgian media had expected, leading to the assumption that Burnley’s claimed interest helped out in that regard too.
The Clarets should put in an invoice for commission.
