Burnley have completed the signing of Wout Weghorst from German outfit Wolfsburg.
The striker has made the switch to Turf Moor for a fee believed to be around £12m after scoring six and assisting one in 18 Bundesliga ties this term.
Following Weghorst joining Burnley, an insight into why the striker’s vaccination played a role in the deal has been provided.
According to Sport Witness citing German outlet Bild, Weghorst’s vaccination status sent him to England, with the move described as an ‘emergency exit’ for the player because Burnley are among the last clubs ‘on the island’ to not yet monitor the vaccination status of current or future professionals.
It is added that there were several other clubs in England, Italy and Spain that showed interest in the striker, but were put off because Weghorst was not vaccinated.
Why Wolfsburg needed to sell Weghorst
The move was also seemingly made out of necessity by Wolfsburg.
As SW explain:
“Furthermore, not only was Burnley the ‘emergency exit’ for the player, ‘but also for VfL Wolfsburg’, because ‘his recovered status’ from Coronavirus (he contracted it in October) ‘expired two weeks ago’ and his ‘continued employment would have presented VfL Wolfsburg with logistical and organisational problems, especially around match days’.”
The report goes on to use home games as an example of how Weghorst would be impacted due him not being vaccinated, stating that the forward would no longer have been allowed to go to the team hotel:
Wout Weghorst | From Germany: ‘Emergency exit’ – Burnley signing ‘not vaccinated’, ‘vaccination status’ drove him to Turf Moor.https://t.co/Mcxbr2bQ6S #twitterclarets
— Sport Witness (@Sport_Witness) January 31, 2022
Burnley’s next game is a relegation scrap with Watford on Saturday the 5th of February and with Chris Wood gone, you would assume Weghosrt will be thrust straight into action for the Clarets this weekend.
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