West Brom have decided to reject an eight-figure offer worth £16million from Premier League club Burnley for striker Jay Rodriguez, according to The Telegraph.
The newspaper claimed on their website that Burnley manager Sean Dyche wants to bring Rodriguez back to Turf Moor, who spent five years at his hometown club before a move to Southampton in 2012.
After relegation to the Championship, West Brom are in serious trouble of maintaining last season’s squad with the sales of Jonny Evans, Ben Foster and James McClean already completed this summer.
The reported fee is to be the highest that the Baggies have received, after selling Saido Berahino for a club-record £15 million last January.
OPINION
Jay Rodriguez made his professional debut for Burnley back in 2007 and should be considering a return to the Clarets who can also offer European football to the forward as well as top-flight action. Rodriguez was in fantastic form for Southampton which warranted a call-up to the England squad, winning his only cap against Chile at Wembley Stadium. However, after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament, Rodriguez was kept out of match action for 11 months and has been unable to find the rich form he was in before the injury. However, West Brom would be desperate to keep their prized forward after already losing a multiple of players who have favoured playing Premier League football. Salomon Rondon is still linked with a move to Premier League side Newcastle and the Baggies cannot afford to lose another forward as Darren Moore’s side will be aiming to bounce back into the top flight at the first time of asking.