A year ago, Mike Trésor achieved great success at KRC Genk, with which he was just shy of winning the national title. The contribution of the almost 25-year-old Burundian Belgian to that top season cannot be underestimated. With 24 assists, he dethroned ex-Genkie Branko Strupar as assist king of the Jupiler Pro League, and on top of that he also scored eight times.
After the season, Trésor was rightly awarded the Ebony Shoe for the best African footballer of the Jupiler Pro League, the Player of the Year award and two caps for the Red Devils. His career seemed to have finally ended, especially when a transfer to the Premier League followed at the end of the summer trade. Burnley coach Vincent Kompany was keen to add Trésor and secured a loan with a mandatory purchase option.
From the Ebony Shoe to the Player of the Year trophy. Mike Trésor often won prizes last season. — © BELGA
From heaven to hell
The price tag of around 18 million euros created sky-high expectations for the English PhD candidate. “Burnley had been following Trésor all summer, so at the end of the transfer period it felt as if Vincent Kompany had finally got the player he absolutely wanted,” says Andy Jones, Burnley watcher for The Athletic. “That created a lot of expectations among the fans, who thought that Trésor could be the missing piece of the puzzle.”
Things were a little different, because Magic Mike went from heaven to hell across the Channel. He has featured in just half of the games – 19 of the 38 – that Burnley have played since his arrival and has only started three times. Before New Year he amassed 545 playing minutes, after New Year’s the number was 43. Sad figures, especially if you also include his statistics: zero goals and zero assists.
“Mike made a promising debut with a good substitute against Nottingham Forest. But he failed to seize his opportunities and make his mark before the New Year.”
Andy Jones
Burnley-watcher voor The Athletic
“Mike made a promising debut with a good substitute against Nottingham Forest,” says Jones. “But after that it became more difficult for him. Not illogical, because he only arrived in Burnley on the very last day of the transfer period and ended up in a team that had started the season poorly. It was not easy at that time, especially for an attacking player, because Burnley had to limit themselves mainly to defense. He did get opportunities before New Year, but he failed to seize them and was never able to make his mark. Something his competitors Wilson Odobert and Jacob Bruun Larsen did. Mike gradually became a bit of a ‘forgotten man’, who was often on the bench and even regularly left out of the selection in recent months.”
What now?
A disastrous season for Trésor, but the same applies to his club Burnley. After Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham, The Clarets have been definitively sentenced to relegation to the Championship. It remains to be seen whether the two-time Red Devil will also play at Turf Moor next season. “Where Mike’s future lies? A good question, which is difficult to answer at the moment,” concludes Jones. “There are now many question marks over Burnley, which will have to sell players to compensate for the loss of TV money that relegation will entail. Trésor certainly cost them a lot of money, it will be difficult to recover that same amount now. But perhaps the relegation means a new opportunity for him and that step down is just what he needs to find himself again. He certainly has the talent.”
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