Nathan Collins secures Premier League dream as the Irishman puts pen to paper for Burnley

Burnley have made their first signing of the summer as the Clarets acquired the services of the young and highly sought after Nathan Collins from Championship side Stoke City.

Collins, 20, had become a fan favourite during his time at the bet365 Stadium and has been tipped for the top by many pundits.

Following his arrival from Cherry Orchard in 2016, Collins became a regular in the Staffordshire outfit’s under-23’s side before breaking through to the Potters first team in the spring of 2019.

The Irishman made his first-team debut for Stoke in April 2019 during an away trip to Swansea City, and made his maiden full-start a week later away at Middlesbrough.

Since then, Collins had made 39 first-team appearances in red and white and clocked-up three goals in all competitions, two coming in the previous campaign.

During his time in the Potteries, Collins became Stoke’s youngest captain as then manager Nathan Jones gave the young but mature defender the armband in a league tie against Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United in August 2019.

In the previous campaign, Collins operated predominantly as a right back but made appearances in the centre of defence.

His most recent appearance for the Potters came in a 4-1 defeat to Norwich City in February where in the final few minutes of the game Collins sustained a serious foot injury which ruled him out for the remainder of the season.

On the International stage, Collins has been awarded 26 caps in Ireland’s youth ranks, but is still awaiting his first senior call-up.

The Irishman was announced on Thursday afternoon as Burnley’s first signing of the summer window for an undisclosed fee after agreeing a four year deal with the Clarets with an option of a further year.

Following his arrival in Lancashire, Collins told Burnley FC’s ‘Clarets+’ what the deal means to him:

“Everything about it is top drawer, it’s massive, It’s what I want to do, I want to play in the Premier League. It’s going to be a jump but I think I can be ready for it.

The youngster added:

“I want a challenge. That’s why I play football – to challenge myself and I can’t wait to get going… I want to play big games, I want to play against these players – I really can’t wait. I think they do have big expectations at this club and I want to be part of it.”

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