Wout Weghorst at Burnley and the story of a broken relationship that will take some repairing

“The way he plays, his quality, he brings others into play, he’s got a real team ethic and he has quality, there’s no two ways about that.”

The words of Sean Dyche on Wout Weghorst after the striker's goalscoring show in the win at Brighton in February. The Clarets won 3-0, their first victory on the road and only their second of the season. He celebrated the goal with an outpouring of emotion, sweeping home a pull back from Connor Roberts to open his club account.

Fastforward a few months and Weghorst and Roberts were at odds during a Nations League match with Burnley at the centre of it, and the Dutchman has left the club, moving on loan to Besiktas with a permanent option for the Turkish side to take the 29-year-old at the end of next season. What started as a blossoming relationship between fanbase and player deteriorated over the closing weeks of the campaign.

It began with promise. Dyche was a big fan of Weghorst and spoke again and again, often unprompted, of how he impressed he was by his winter recruit. Things started well, the striker offered more mobility than Chris Wood as Burnley seemed a better side with him in it.

His impressed against Man United at Turf Moor and opened his account at Brighton as the Clarets belatedly kickstarted their season. But the goals didn't flow - only one more followed - and as the going got tough for Burnley so it did for Weghorst.

On the pitch he missed chances, the glaring one at Aston Villa the most notable, off it he gave the impression of disgruntlement with his reaction to being replaced at Watford. Burnley completed a memorable comeback without him that fuelled hopes of survival. The striker played the next match but was dropped for the final four, coming off the bench