Burnley would rather keep Michael Keane and stay up than sell, says chairman

Burnley chairman Mike Garlick would rather lose Michael Keane for nothing in a year than sell him now if it means he helps keep them in the Premier League.

The England defender has another season left on his deal at Turf Moor after playing his part in taking Sean Dyche's side to a 16th-place finish in their first campaign back in the top flight.

Keane's old club Manchester United are believed to be interested in the 24-year-old and bids are expected for him when the transfer window opens.

Garlick is adamant there's no need to sell, however, and maintains it would be more valuable to allow his contract to run down for the riches it might bring elsewhere.

He said: "Let's roll it forward a year - what's the prize for staying up again? Another £120-130m. So if we miss out on one or two fees and get that, I know what I'd take.

"The most important thing for the fans to know is that we don't actually have to sell any player. Going forward it's got to be on our terms and terms that are right for us. Do we need to sell anyone? No.

"It (speculation) is part of the business and it comes with the territory of being a successful team that has an impact in the Premier League, which is what we've done. It's bound to attract attention.

"Right now, there's a lot of noise out there from the media but we haven't had any formal interest in anyone. If we want to keep players, we'll keep them."

Burnley broke their transfer record three times during 2016/17 as they signed Steven Defour and Jeff Hendrick last summer then Robbie Brady in January.

With their total spend of £32m being enough to keep them in the Premier League, Garlick is preparing for increased expenditure over the next few weeks.

He added: "I think it's fair to say going forward we will spend more on transfer fees in the coming season than we did last.

"Our major objective is that when that window closes we've got to be stronger than we are sat here today. Will that be hard work? Yes. Will we able to achieve it? I believe we can.

"In terms of transfer fees, there's probably more money available for next season than there was last. You would hope because there's more money available we could improve slightly on where we are."