Football
Exclusive: Burnley Eye Hearts Striker Cláudio Braga in Bid to Boost Survival Chances
Burnley are eyeing Hearts striker Claudio Braga to boost their struggling Premier League campaign. With only three wins in 20 games, the Clarets hope the Portuguese ace can save them from relegation. Braga's 11 goals for Hearts make him a top target, but the Scottish club is determined to keep their star duo in their quest for a league title.
Heart of Midlothian v Aberdeen - William Hill Premiership by Ewan Bootman - SNS Group | Getty Images
Burnley are exploring the possibility of a move to sign Hearts hotshot Cláudio Braga, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal.
The Clarets are languishing second from bottom in the Premier League after a woeful start to the season which has yielded just three league wins from 20 games.
And our sources understand that Clarets’ boss Scott Parker is desperate to bolster his attacking options with the club staring down the barrel of an immediate return to the Championship if results don’t improve.
The struggling Lancashire side are already six points adrift of safety at just over the halfway stage of the season.
And worryingly their top-scorer has only managed five goals, with Dutchman Zian Flemming having been one of their better players.
SportsBoom understands the Clarets are now set to turn to Braga in the January transfer window as the man who could potentially fire them out of trouble.
The 26-year-old Portuguese marksman has scored 11 goals in 20 games for the Jambos this season, with eight of them in the league with the club sitting pretty at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a healthy six-point lead over rivals Celtic and Rangers respectively.
Back in October, SportsBoom revealed Burnley’s interest in Leicester’s Harry Winks, but no new developments have emerged this month.
FORMIDABLE FRONTMEN
Alongside fellow frontman Lawrence Shankland, the duo has formed a formidable partnership for Derek McInnes' ambitious side.
Shankland leads the Scottish Premiership goalscoring charts with ten goals, while Braga is fourth, having also chipped in with two valuable assists in what is already proving to be a fine campaign thus far.
Hearts are chasing their first Scottish Premiership title this season, with the club’s last league title way back in the 1959-60 season when they won the old League Division One crown.
And it’s unsurprising then that McInnes is keen to hold on to Braga and fellow striker Shankland, especially as they look to make history the season by ending Celtic’s stranglehold on the domestic title.
Neil has been a journalist for longer than he'd care to remember, having written for national newspapers and respected publications for over 25 years. For the last three years he has worked freelance for BBC Sport, working on the production desk as a sub-editor and also as a writer, covering a whole range of sports.