Newcastle United gave Dan Burn the nod to start against Aston Villa yesterday. Burn put in an excellent showing on his Toon debut alongside Fabian Schar, coping with the Villa attack very well.
The former Brighton and Hove Albion defender was given Man of the Match award by Sky Sports. It’s only the third clean sheet that the Magpies have kept this season and Burn played his part. For most of this season, the defence has looked like a real issue.
Burn was signed from Brighton in the January transfer window with the aim to try and rectify this problem. On his debut, he certainly made a statement against a good Villa side.
Burn will prove to be a great signing for Newcastle
The Seagulls sold Burn to the Toon for £13 million, according to Sky Sports. He ended up being the only centre-back brought in over the January window.
Burn is already starting to prove his worth after yesterday’s performance. Captain Jamaal Lascelles was out due to illness, giving the 6ft 7in man the chance to start.
He was assertive but also cool, calm and collective on the ball. Additionally, the always mentioned height of Burn is always an advantage as he was able to win most balls in the air.
Also, the 29-year-old is he’s comfortable on the ball. Granted, he’s not as effective as Schar can be, but he’s no stranger to playing it out from the back.
New owners PIF are more associated with the large amounts of wealth they possess. However, with the signing of Burn, it could prove to be some effective business, a real bargain. We could look back on that signing as one of the best deals they got done when it comes to cash spent on a single player.
Sunday’s win against Villa was massive for Newcastle. New signing Dan Burn was a big factor in that victory at the back. More performances like that and he will have demonstrated he was the missing piece of the puzzle in defence.
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