Sean Dyche’s decision to sign two players from Charlton Athletic turned out to be a masterstroke, with one going on to make over 200 appearances for Burnley while the other was sold for a significant profit.
On the final day of the 2015/16 season, Burnley travelled to The Valley to take on Charlton Athletic, knowing that a win would be enough to clinch the Championship title following an impressive campaign under Dyche.
The Clarets won the game 3-0, with goals from Sam Vokes, George Boyd and Andre Gray. Fans of both sides invaded the pitch at the full-time whistle, with the Burnley faithful celebrating their success while Charlton supporters protested against Roland Duchatalet after his uninspiring ownership of the club had resulted in relegation to League One.
While both sets of supporters were together on the pitch at The Valley, nobody would have known that Burnley were going to sign two of Charlton’s most promising players that summer, in a deal that would turn out to be an excellent piece of business.
Burnley signed two players from Charlton Athletic in 2016
Burnley spent a fair amount of money during the summer of 2016, in preparation for their first season back in the Premier League. Robbie Brady, Jeff Hendrick, Steven Defour and Ashley Westwood all arrived at Turf Moor, as well as Patrick Bamford and Jon Flanagan signing on loan.
However, Dyche’s first piece of business was to bring in goalkeeper Nick Pope and winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson from Charlton for undisclosed fees. Both players signed three-year deals with the option of a further year, showing the faith that the manager had in his two acquisitions.
Pope had kept six clean sheets in 24 appearances in the Championship for the Addicks during the 2015/16 season, while Gudmundsson had scored 16 league goals and assisted 16 more during his two seasons in SE7. The Iceland international was also coming off the back of a successful Euro 2016 campaign, in which he had helped his country knock out England, when he joined Burnley.
Dyche was delighted with the signings at the time
Not many Burnley fans would have predicted the success that Pope and Gudmundsson would enjoy at Turf Moor, even after hearing the comments that Dyche made after the deals were completed.
As was reported at the time by the BBC, Dyche was impressed by Gudmundsson’s “quality” for Charlton, as well as his performances for his country at the Euros.
He said: “It helps to see a player in the European Championship with that kind of company and he did well there. It was one we all agreed would be a good acquisition for the club.”
Regarding the signing of Pope, Dyche explained: “[He’s a] young keeper who we think has a lot of promise.
“He’s a good keeper now but we think he can mature and get even better during his time here.”
Pope and Gudmundsson turned out to be excellent signings
Pope did not feature once in the Premier League during the 2016/17 campaign, although he did keep three clean sheets in the four cup games that he played in his debut season.
In the four seasons that followed, he was a regular in the top flight for the Clarets. Pope kept an impressive 47 clean sheets in 141 Premier League games for Burnley, and was a key part of Dyche’s defence that was so vital to the success of the team.
Not only did the signing of Pope benefit Burnley on the pitch, but he also commanded a fee of £10m when he was sold to Newcastle United in 2022, ensuring that the club made a profit on the initial deal to sign him from Charlton.
Gudmundsson has spent seven seasons in the Premier League with Burnley since his arrival at Turf Moor, as well as a year in the Championship which resulted in the Clarets winning the title under Vincent Kompany.
The 33-year-old has rejoined the club this summer ahead of another campaign in the second tier after it was initially announced that he would leave following relegation from the Premier League, as he looks to write another chapter in his Burnley story.
Both Pope and Gudmundsson will be remembered by Burnley fans for being part of the side that spent six straight seasons in the top flight and took the club to Europe during the summer of 2018.
There can be little argument that Dyche’s double swoop in 2016 was a masterstroke.
