Sam Vokes loan contract expired on Sunday and he is now back at Molineux waiting to see how his short-term future develops.
Burnley were clearly ideally hoping they could extend his loan contract and that was even before Martin Paterson picked up yet another injury in our game against Middlesbrough at the Riverside on Saturday.
Howe is now even more determined to sign Vokes having been told that Pato faces up to six weeks out of action with a hamstring injury.
Our strike force could be a little threadbare at the moment if we cant get cover. Charlie Austin and Jay Rodriguez look set to be our regular choices for a starting eleven slot and of course we also have Zavon Hines and Alex MacDonald waiting in the wings. Young 19 year old Danny Ings is also well on the road to recovery from his cartilage injury and looks set to play for the Reserves against Preston in midweek. Eddie Howe though will not want to rush the youngster, who has yet to make his first team debut for the Clarets, into the first team in view of his lack of experience at Championship level.
So what are the options?
Sam Vokes is the obvious choice if we can extend his loan period. He knows the set-up and offers something different for the Clarets up front.
The main obstacle though could be Howe’s ability to convince Wolves gaffer, Mick McCarthy that they will play him often enough.
In his two month loan spell at Turf Moor, he was quite impressive in his first few games and was more of a regular choice. In total he made nine appearances for the Clarets scoring two goals. However, recently he struggled to make the starting eleven, mainly due to the return of Martin Paterson and his impressive form.
This obviously has not gone unnoticed at Molineux and McCarthy might now be convinced his player might be more suited by a move to another club, more prepared to play him on a more regular basis.
McCarthy revealed last week that other clubs are interested in Vokes and Brighton were reported to be one of the Championship clubs who have the Welsh international on their radar. The Wolves gaffer was also understood to be keen for the 22-year-old to go back to his parent club amid enquiries from a host of other Championship clubs and concerns about the striker not starting many games.
Eddie Howe though will be hoping to convince him otherwise:
‘Sam will go back to Wolves, but we will be making a call to see how the land lies,’ said Howe after their 2-0 victory over Boro on Saturday.
‘Obviously losing Martin, we may well reassess that, but we’re in Wolves’ hands.
‘They (the injuries to Pato and Junior) are a massive downside for us. It could force our hand to look into the transfer market’
Vokes is down the pecking order at Molineux behind the likes of former Clarets striker,Steven Fletcher, Kevin Doyle and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.
McCarthy said recently:
‘There is a fair bit of interest in Sam. We’ll make a decision when he comes back. But I’ve had no offers for anyone.’
So what do you think our chances will be of signing Vokes and how disappointed will you be if we fail? Do you think we will need to delve into the transfer market for a striker if we fail to extend Vokes loan contract? Let us know below the article
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