Burnley’s six-year stay in the Premier League ended in the 2021-22 season as they were relegated on the final matchday of the season after losing 1-2 at home to Newcastle United. As a result, the Clarets have already lost James Tarkowski and Nick Pope and may lose the likes of Maxwel Cornet, Dwight McNeil, Wout Weghorst and Nathan Collins before the summer transfer window slams shut. This will generate sufficient cash which they can use to strengthen their squad. One such option eyed by Burnley is Coventry City midfielder, Callum O’Hare.
O’Hare made 45 appearances for Coventry City in the 2021-22 EFL Championship season where he played for 3,812 minutes. He scored five goals and assisted eight, which brought him a goal involvement every 293 minutes. He mainly played as an attacking midfielder, though he did feature occasionally on the right wing and even on the left flank, showing his versatility as a player.
As seen in the above shot map, O’Hare scored four out of his five goals from inside the box. He took most of his shot attempts from inside the box, though he did shoot from outside quite a few times. Of the 91 shots he fired off, 33 hit the target, bringing his shot accuracy to 36.3% and his conversion rate to 18.2 shots per goal scored.
Displayed above is the successful pass map of O’Hare for Coventry last season. Time and time again, he completed passes into the attacking third and put balls into the opposition’s penalty area, thus increasing his xT score in the process. In addition to this, as an attacking midfielder, he consistently generated shot assists, through balls & smart passes and key passes.
O’Hare scored five times, but xG estimated him to net 10 goals. Because of this, he ranked in the bottom 21% of midfielders. He was involved in just over nine attacking actions per 90 and came out successful in 42% of these. Similarly, he also won 45% of his offensive duels out of the 12.22 he contested per 90. When adjusted for possession (often shortened to PADJ), O’Hare attempted just above 10 defensive actions per 90 and won 68% of these ranking in the upper quartile among midfielders in both these categories. He also made 2.78 recoveries in the opponents’ half per 90 PADJ.
Burnley may lose multiple attacking threats before the end of the summer transfer window, including Cornet, Weghorst and McNeil. Should Callum O’Hare arrive at Turf Moor, this might mitigate, at least to some extent, the losses of the aforementioned trio. With former Manchester City man and captain, Vincent Kompany, in the managerial seat, the Clarets should aim for a promotion push.
