Brought in in the summer for close to £7.5m and with a lot of hype, Steven Defour and Burnley hasn’t been the love story everyone hoped for.
The Belgian midfielder has often been accused of not being physically prepared enough for the Premier League, leading to him only making 20 league appearances this season under Sean Dyche.
Despite a positive start, the 29-year-old has barely been used since returning from a hamstring injury in mid-March, leaving a few questions floating around surrounding his future at Turf Moor.
One man, however, who still has faith in the former FC Porto midfielder is Guillaume Gillet, who played with him at Anderlecht, and now plies his trade with Nantes in France.
The 33-year-old, who recently rejected an offer from LA Galaxy, is convinced the Burnley summer signing would be a hit in Ligue 1.
Speaking to DH, he said: “If the board wants to, they could certainly convince Steven Defour, who isn’t in the good books at Burnley. Nantes isn’t Paris Saint-Germain, but they have interesting financial powers, especially after this good season in Ligue 1”.
Currently managed by Sergio Conceicao, Nantes have stormed up the table since January, and lie in 8th in the table, two points behind Europa League hopefuls Saint-Etienne.
Whether they would be able to convince Defour to make the jump remains to be seen, but it certainly seems that the Belgian midfielder’s future is somewhere other than Burnley.
