Burnley CEO Neil Hart remains confident the club is in 'good financial shape', despite the losses running into the tens of millions. 

Hart told LancsLive: "There is no doubt this club is experiencing huge losses running into tens of millions. That is a challenge we are navigating our way through." 

"But we remain solution focused and positive and we are trying to navigate our way through that."

  • The takeover

Understandably, Hart kept relatively quiet on the news of a potential takeover form American investment group ALK. His few words read: "What I can say, is it is no secret that the chairman and the club have been looking for external investment."

"That is an ongoing process and as and when we are able to communicate to supporters and stakeholders that that process has come to a conclusion we will do that."

The key points to take are that Hart described it as 'external investment' and not a full-blown takeover. This shouldn't be surprising. It has been made quite public that Burnley is a club ran by local businessmen and fans of the club. Therefore, it is highly unlikely current majority shareholder and chairman Mike Garlick would let go control of the club.  

However, Hart did indicate talks were being held and that there could still be a deal done with the group. This is likely to be buy of minor shares with significant investment in a view of making profit within a specific timeframe. 

  • Transfer talk

It was a disappointing window for many involved with the club, including Sean Dyche and the fans. Many believe the club have hit a wall in what they can achieve and that if Dyche was to take them further, they would need adding to the squad.

The club did add Will Norris and Dale Stephens, but these two signings left the fans underwhelmed and uninspired with this summer being a negative for the Clarets. However,  Hart saw it differently: "Our priority this window was to retain some of our main assets and we have done that." 

Hart then went on to list the important deals done this window: "We have exercised an extension on Ben Mee, Ashley Westwood has signed a new deal, we have retained James Tarkowski's services which I think is critical for the team, Dwight McNeil has now signed a new deal and there is a plan in place to look at other players where deals are coming to an end and that process is ongoing."

Without looking to far ahead, fans will want to see more movement in the next transfer window and Hart agreed: "I would envisage we would have a relatively active January and next summer window."

  • Pay-per-view

The pay-per-view decision by the Premier League has left many fans furious with their respective clubs. For a lot of people paying £14.95 a week to watch their team play is not practical to say the least. 

Leicester City were the only club to vote against the proposal and the first use of it was this weekend. 

On the decision Burnley made, Hart stated: "I won't dress it up, it was the best of a bad option list.

"The price was set by the broadcasters, it was either that option or we don't have the games broadcast. And we felt that was the better option.

"And let me stress Burnley fans have a choice, you can choose to pay for it or you can choose not to. As a Burnley fan would I pay for it? Yes I probably would. I would pay to watch my team but it is down to the individuals to choose that and at least you have the option."

The CEO dresses it up as nice as possible, but in reality will everyone pay the asking price to watch the games, no. However, Hart does make a good point when he says this option is in fact cheaper than buying a ticket to a game and with no fans being allowed in, it's the best they can do. The counter argument of course is that you just don't get the same experience. 

  • The return of fans 

The Clarets like many other clubs rely heavily on fans and their return is important to Hart: 

"There is a huge desire to get fans back into stadiums, they are the lifeblood of any football club and they are a huge part of Burnley Football Club. We miss them dearly.

"Pressure is being applied in an appropriate way. It is not an easy task for us but rest assured we are doing everything we can to get supporters back into grounds and we are hoping we can do that sooner rather than later, albeit with a reduced occupancy level but that is a start."