Burnley have completed the signing of Wout Weghorstfrom VFL Wolfsburg for an undisclosed fee.

The big Netherlands striker fills the void left by Chris Wood who departed for Newcastle United earlier this month.

Six-foot-six Weghorst has signed a three-and-a-half-year deal at Turf Moor and will wear the number nine shirt. 

  • The story of the deal

Much like the Mislav Orsic saga, the story of The Clarets interest in the Dutchman is quite the tale.

After selling Wood after The Magpies paid his release clause in his contract, Burnley scrambled to find a replacement.

Links with Andy Carroll went cold quickly and Weghorst’s name started to appear, with rumours of talks starting a little more than two weeks ago.

The striker flew to Manchester to visit the Burnley training ground last week, before training on his own on Friday at his current employers in Germany.

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After the deal for Croatia international Orsic fell through, many feared this would too after the trail went cold – like it did with the Dinamo Zagrebstar.

But, Sunday morning, the deal became more clear than it had been as reports of Weghorst having a medical with Burnley came to the surface before confirmation from BILD that the deal was complete.

The German newspaper said that the deal was for an initial £12million with £1.5million to be added on if The Clarets stay in the Premier League.

  • Weghorst’s career so far

The 29-year-old has been a success wherever he has been over his career.

After starting his career at FC Emmen in the Dutch second tier he moved up a division to join Heracles in 2014.

From there, he moved to AZ Alkmaar where he scored around a goal every two games, hitting the net 45 times in 86 appearances for the Eredivisie side.

That prolific form earned him admirers at Wolfsburg, where he signed in 2018 and went to score 70 goals in 144 games at the Volkswagen Arena.

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This season, he has struggled slightly in front of goal but has still scored six times in 18 appearances, which pales in comparison to his stats last season – he scored an impressive 20 times in 34 games to be the joint fourth highest goal-scorer in the Bundesliga.

In fact, according to WhoScored.com, only Robert Lewandowski has scored more Bundesliga goals since Weghorst’s arrival than the Dutchman himself, which is an incredible statistic.

He has also featured 12 times for the Netherlands national team, scoring twice in those appearances.

  • What will he bring Burnley?

On face value, Weghorst will be a target man for The Clarets to hit towards.

He is lethal in the air, but can also create chances for himself and others with his feet, proving that with some clinical finishes with either foot.

In a two up front system, he will be vital in getting the midfielders up with play, and can spread the ball to the wings for a Dwight McNeil or Johann Berg Gudmundsson to get a ball into the box.

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And, if Sean Dyche continues to use the season’s star-signing so far, Maxwel Cornet, as a striker then Weghorst can flick long balls on for Cornet to chase or create a good link with the Ivory Coast international as the latter had with Wood earlier this season.

A reformation of that partnership between Cornet and his strike partner will be critical if Burnley are to survive this season.

If they manage to find 15 goals between them from now until the end of the season, The Clarets stand every chance of staying in the division.

Weghorst's new manager has had his say on the arrival, telling the club website: "Wout is a player that our scouts have been strong on for some time and we feel that he can add to all that we do at Burnley Football Club.

“His signing is a continued show of the Club’s and team’s development. We wish Wout well as he earns the right to push our group forwards.”