CONFIRMED: Fabrizio Romano confirms Burnley have now reached full agreement to sign Chelsea defender in loan-to-buy deal, Official announcement imminent

Burnley are on the verge of landing the services of Chelsea centre-back Bashir Humphreys.

That is according to a report from transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, who claims that the Clarets are set to secure the services of the 21-year-old on an initial loan basis.

And next summer, Humphreys will sign a five-year contract at Turf Moor for an undisclosed transfer fee to become a full-time Burnley player, irrespective of whether or not he receives regular game-time under Scott Parker this season.

Having joined Chelsea at under-15’s level in 2017 from Reading, Humphreys has risen through the setup at Cobham and received his first-team Blues debut in January 2023 in an FA Cup clash with Man City.

The defender was sent out on loan a few weeks later though to Paderborn, then in the second tier of German football, before spending the entirety of last season with Swansea City.

Humphreys featured 24 times in the Championship for the South Wales outfit, scoring once in a 2-1 win over Norwich City last October, but he only featured three times post-January, with some of that coming down to injuries and Luke Williams at times just not favouring the youngster.

Leeds United were also interested in Humphreys this summer, as per Romano, but it is Burnley who have won the race for the services of the versatile defender. Parker’s squad hasn’t undergone too much of a revamp since dropping out of the Premier League after just one season, but that could change in the final two weeks of the window.

Lucas Pires, Shurandy Sambo, Vaclav Hladky, Etienne Green and Andreas Hountondji are the only new faces to arrive at Turf Moor so far, but with a bloated squad size, exits were always likely.

Wilson Odobert has completed a surprise big-money move to Tottenham Hotspur, and the likes of Scott Twine, Samuel Bastien and Aro Muric have all moved on too.

The next one you’d expect, given the imminent arrival of Humphreys, is Dara O’Shea, who is being heavily touted with a move to Brentford before the August 30 deadline.

Following his impressive performances in the top flight, the Irishman is likely to be on the move within the next 13 days, and that opens up a spot for Humphreys to try and make his own.

There will be plenty of competition however, with Jordan Beyer, Maxime Esteve, Hjalmar Ekdal, Ameen Al-Dakhil and Hannes Delcroix all options available to Parker throughout the season, so perhaps even if O’Shea goes, a centre-back wasn’t desperately needed.

Burnley have essentially agreed a six-year deal with Humphreys though, so he must be highly thought of by Parker – therefore, challenging for a starting spot straight away will be expected.