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Watford expert outlines what Burnley fans can expect from Man City’s Max Alleyne

· Matt Scrafton · 2026-08-12T10:01:24+00:00 · nguồn gốc

Watford expert outlines what Burnley fans can expect from Man City’s Max Alleyne Expert view on Burnley’s new signing Burnley have their next signing lined up in the form of Manchester City defender Max Alleyne. The Clarets have agreed a straight loan deal for the 21-year-old, with a medical due to take place today according to transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano. If and when it’s announced, the England Under-21 international will become Burnley’s fourth signing of the summer, following in the footsteps of Ben Amos, Ugo Raghouber and Lluc Castell. Despite his tender years, Alleyne still has Championship experience having spent the first half of last season on loan with Watford. He made 17 appearances for the Hornets before being recalled in January by City following injuries to Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias. So what can Burnley fans expect from their new man? The Burnley Express caught up with Adam Drury, from the Watford Observer, who was able to give us the lowdown on the Hornets’ former loanee. Here’s what he had to say: Was it hoped Watford could bring him back this season? I think they'd have definitely liked to - they've been monitoring him, with Stephen Mfuni [another loanee from Man City], ever since he left last season and there was hope the relationship with Man City was strong enough to make it happen. But the suspicion has always been that a club with more financial power and more likely to compete at the top end of the division would come in. That's exactly what's happened and it'll be interesting to see how he gets on. How did he do during his loan spell? It can probably be split into three parts, even though he only ended up staying for five months. He broke into the team initially and looked excellent, but Watford were playing a back three and he was protected a little in that system. When Javi Gracia took over in October he switched to a back four and Alleyne was largely ignored. It was only in December that he broke back into the team and was a key part of the best run of the season - four straight wins, featuring three clean sheets, that gave them half a chance of the play-offs over Christmas and new year. By the time he left he was integral, and his recall from Man City was considered one of the key moments in the post-mortem of the campaign. Subscribe now for HALF PRICE and catch every minute of our Clarets coverage this season - from pre-season to the final whistle. Click here How did his recall impact Watford’s season? It was a huge loss. The team were on a roll but it felt like his recall, combined with other factors, broke the momentum. No new defender arrived until the end of January, by which time the confidence had drained out of the backline and they were conceding goals regularly again. Had he stayed, the whole season may have played out differently. What sort of centre-back is he? He's right-footed and I would imagine prefers to play on that side, but Watford didn't have a left-footer at the time and he generally played there, looking perfectly comfortable. He probably lacks physically, and the test for him will be when he comes up against a really quick, strong forward, but he largely made up for it with his reading of the game. He'd often step in front and come away with the ball and he was remarkably calm for a player playing the first senior matches of his career. He's also an excellent passer. He'd pick the lines with his passes out from the back and at times made the whole thing look far easier than anybody else was able to.