Burnley: Jean Butez is “keen to join” this summer

The Royal Antwerp goalkeeper has already been the subject of an approach from the hierarchy at Turf Moor.

Burnley target Jean Butez is “keen to join” Vincent Kompany’s side this summer, according to reliable journalist Ryan Taylor.

Who is Jean Butez?

Butez is a goalkeeper who currently plays his football for Royal Antwerp in the Belgian Pro League having moved there from Mouscron back in 2020 where he’s since gone on to make a total of 129 appearances to date.

The Frenchman started all 40 league games under Mark van Bommel last season and is his manager’s firmly established number one, and with Vincent Kompany holding knowledge of players in his homeland, the 28-year-old has been highlighted as a target at Turf Moor.

L’Equipe recently reported that the Clarets have made an approach for the shot-stopper who still has another three years remaining on his contract, but despite their advances initially getting turned down, it sounds as if a deal is firmly back on the cards.

Is Burnley signing Butez?

Taking to Twitter, Taylor revealed that Burnley is currently in discussions with Royal Antwerp regarding a move for Butez who is believed to be pushing to complete his switch to the Premier League. He wrote:

“Antwerp goalkeeper Jean Butez keen to join Burnley. Talks are ongoing between clubs after Clarets saw an opening bid rejected. Kamil Grabara of Copenhagen another GK admired, Vincent Kompany has scouted him. #LFC has a 20% sell-on clause.”

Where could Butez fit in under Kompany?

Burnley and Kompany had Arijanet Muric as their first-choice between the sticks for the majority of last season but you can never have too much competition so Butez joining could push the formerly mentioned goalkeeper for the number one gloves next season.

The DVL Management client, who pockets £13k-per-week, kept an outstanding 19 clean sheets from 34 Jupiler Pro League outings last season, a form which saw him not only collect four man-of-the-match awards but also hailed “very impressive” by journalist Josh Bunting.

Furthermore, the 6 foot 2 colossi made a total of 74 saves from 100 shots on target, giving him a save percentage of 76%, via FBRef, ever so slightly under the 76.6% of Muric showing just how close in quality the two shot-stoppers are.

Finally, Butez knows what it takes to compete and be successful at the highest level having won two trophies with Antwerp, one of those being his side’s division title, so should he put pen to paper, he would be able to match the winning mentality of the current squad already in Lancashire.