Burnley securing the future of this £15m first-team gem is simply fantastic – Here’s why

According to BBC, Burnley have secured the future of striker Chris Wood with a new contract, with the 27-year-old putting pen to paper on fresh terms at Turf Moor until the summer of 2023. 

The news of Wood’s deal comes just a day after fellow striker Ashley Barnes also pledged his future to the club with fresh terms. 

The New Zealand international, who completed a move to Burnley from Leeds United for a club-record fee of £15millionback in 2017, has established himself as one of the key cogs in the Clarets’ engine in the Premier League under the stewardship of Sean Dyche. 

Born in Auckland, Chris Wood completed his footballing education at Cambridge F.C, Hamilton Wanderers and Waikato F.C in his homeland before completing a move to English football with West Brom back in 2009.

However, the 27-year-old struggled to establish himself in a substantial role at the West Midlands outfit and spent time on loan at Barnsley, Bristol City, Birmingham City and Millwall in the Championship, as well as at Brighton and Hove Albion in League One, before Leicester City snapped him up in the summer of 2012. 

Wood’s move to Leeds United in 2015 eventually proved to be the stepping stone to greater heights, with a career-best tally of 30 goals in 48 appearances across all competitions in the 2016-17 campaign paving the way for a move back to the top-flight with Burnley. 

The towering Kiwi hitman was an instant hit at Turf Moor and took well to Dyche’s old-school long-ball philosophy. He bagged 10 goals in the Premier League in the 2017-18 season to propel Burnley to a 7th-place finish. 

Burnley failed to make it through to the group stages of the Europa League but Wood was instrumental in the club’s first glimpse of the European stage in over 50 years. The 27-year-old followed it up with another 10 goals in the Premier League in the 2018-19 campaign. 

The 27-yer-old has followed in the footsteps of Ashley Barnes in putting pen to paper on fresh terms (Getty Images)

Wood, who boasts of 24 goals from 55 international caps for New Zealand, has once again made a bright start to the ongoing season.

To put things into perspective, Burnley have taken a step in the right direction with a new deal for Chris Wood, who is certainly one of the key players at the club and an indispensable weapon for the Clarets in the final third.