At the weekend, Het Nieuwsblad reported Burnley have made a new €15m offer for Bart Verbruggen, while Anderlecht have demanded €20m to part ways with the goalkeeper.
It was also stated the Jupiler Pro League side rejected the Clarets’ €5m offer for him last summer.
With Burnley named as one of his suitors, the 20-year-old has now told De Telegraaf that he dreams of making a switch to England.
“It has always been my dream to play football in England. It is an honour and compliment to be mentioned among clubs that play in that competition, but that isn’t the most important thing at the moment,” he said.
Burnley have achieved promotion back to the Premier League and Verbruggen can play in the top flight, if he were to join Vincent Kompany’s side.
He’s currently with the Netherlands U21s, preparing for the U21 Euros that’s set to start on June 21st. Although his focus is with Jong Oranje, the stopper has also stated there are people taking care of his future behind the scenes.
“I have very nice people working for me who arrange everything related to transfers. They keep me informed,” Verbruggen explained.
“And they ask me things when things need to be decided. They do their job very well and I have to do my job here. What comes, that comes. We’ll see. There is now a European championship coming up first.”
The Dutchman joined Anderlecht from NAC Breda in 2020 and trained under goalkeeping coach Jelle ten Rouwelaar at both clubs. The coach joined Burnley last summer, to be part of Kompany’s backroom staff, and has been in regular contact with Verbruggen.
“I still have contact with Jelle. I owe a lot to Jelle. I learned 95% of what I now know from him,” the Anderlecht player said.
“I am infinitely grateful to him and still speak to him sometimes. But that is as a friend, as a former coach and as someone you ask for advice. A kind of confidential advisor.”
De Telegraaf say Verbruggen laughed when told reuniting with Ten Rouwelaar at Burnley would be logical.
“You can also let go of theories. The media can speculate and write nicely, that’s fine. I am going to the European championship with Jong Oranje and am happy to be here,” he added.
