Dundee’s ‘strategic partnership’ with Burnley is almost a year old – but what does it mean in practice at Dens Park?
The link-up with Burnley owners ALK Capital provided “fantastic opportunities for shared growth and success” as stated in the original press release.
Dundee also recently announced a similar partnership with Mexican club CF Monterrey.
Since teaming up with Burnley, Dee chiefs have travelled down to visit the Clarets while ALK’s Alan Pace came north last January.
Dundee’s owners have also opened the door for financial investment from ALK Capital, though any cash injection has not come to pass as yet.
There is co-operation on recruitment but the main focus of the agreement is on developing young players and that means loan deals.
Already we’ve seen a handful of youngsters head north of the border to pick up experience and add to the Dark Blues first team.
Last season Michael Mellon, Owen Dodgson and Dara Costelloe joined the Dee for the second half of last season.
This term Seun Adewumi and Julien Vetro have been the Burnley boys on the beat.
Austria U/21 international Adewumi’s talent has emerged in recent weeks culminating in a Man of the Match performance against Motherwell.
Vetro, meanwhile, has played just 23 minutes off the bench – but Dundee manager Tony Docherty says there are encouraging signs from the Frenchman.
And the Dens boss is more than happy with how things work between Dens Park and Turf Moor.
Level
“We’re in a partnership and it’s a really healthy partnership. There’s good relationships there,” Docherty explained.
“Seun is up to speed. He and Julien came in late but I feel now he’s up to speed.
“He’s a 19-year-old kid so he’s adjusted to the lifestyle here, adjusted to his new teammates, adjusted to the league he’s playing in.
“But we saw last week [against Motherwell] the level he is at.
“We’ll just hopefully build and build on that because he’s a good player.
“Same with Julien. Julien’s been a wee bit up and down but we’ve seen signs with him in training.
“That’s the benefit of this partnership with Burnley, that you can get that level of player in to help you in your campaign.”
He added: “We’ve got a really close relationship. The owners are close between the clubs.
“I’ve got a good relationship with Paul Jenkins [Burnley’s director of football development] down there as well.
“There’s a closer relationship than with other clubs you loan players from.
“The benefits for me is that you get good, top quality players like Seun Adewumi and Julien Vetro in to complement the already really talented bunch that I’ve got at the moment.”
‘Going really well’
The agreement with Adewumi only lasts until January and Docherty has been clear in his desire to keep the talented youngster in his team for longer.
The player himself is happy to go along with what Burnley decide, saying: “My main goal is just to develop myself, to gain experience every day, so I don’t really worry about stuff off the pitch.
“I’m in contact with Burnley every week – they always make sure that everything is going good and for now just things are going really well for me.
“All the players here at Dundee are really kind to me. They know it’s a huge step moving from Austria to Scotland but as I said they’re really kind to me and they’re also trying to push me.
“Everyone in the changing-room is trying to get the limit from everyone and it’s really good here.
“I love to play with the players here.”
‘Win-win’
Adewumi’s ability is certainly developing after making the move from the Austrian lower leagues and being dropped straight into the Scottish top flight.
The Austria U/21 international is an example of the recruitment teams working together – Burnley identified the player but needed another club to help get him to English Championship standard.
And manager Docherty hopes the healthy relationship between the clubs can see an agreement made to extend his stay until the end of the season.
“It helps. Obviously they’ve got an agenda and we’ve got an agenda,” the Dundee boss said.
“They want their player to develop and they’ve identified us as being a team that can help with that.
“It is very similar to Luke Graham, you know, when I look at teams that can aid his development, I look at Falkirk, I look at the coaches there, John McGlynn and Paul Smith, and I think they’ll develop there.
“They’re obviously looking at it the same way here.
“They are trying to develop their player and at the same time, we’re trying to get a player in that can help us develop as a team and help those all round about us.
“It’s a win-win situation for both parties.”
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