Burnley chairman Mike Garlick has very openly discussed the club's finances following the closure of the European Transfer Window.

The Clarets squad is a very settled one, with the club seeing minimal arrivals or departures during the last couple of months, with only four new names coming through the door.

In a revealing interview with Lancs Live, the chairman explained his transfer window policies and was very open with what happened in the past window.

"We try and progress every summer and come out of it stronger than we go into it," he explained.

"We went in for a player with a straight offer of £20million including add ons, but they didn’t want to sell.

"There were a lot of clubs in for him but I think we put the highest offer in so it is not like we are not competing at that level for the top young talent, but it is still a lot of money."

The Clarets did splash a reported £10million on Jay Rodriguez to bring him back to Turf Moor, with Erik Pieters, Danny Drinkwater and Bailey Peacock-Farrell also joining.

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"The market changes in its shape and its challenge, this summer younger players, everyone was chasing them," Garlick added.

Financial gap “not as big as it used to be”, according to Garlick

Much has been reported about the difference between the established top six sides in the Premier League and the rest of the teams, but Garlick has revealed that Burnley are starting to close that gap step by step.

"There is a gap between us and some of the bigger clubs but the gap is not what it used to be," he said.

“We are at the low end but we are not the lowest.

“We are near the bottom in terms of wages we pay but we do have a very aggressive bonus structure that incentivises the players and the management team to keep the team in the Premier League,” Garlick added.

The club are unlikely to significantly increase their wage budget once again, with Garlick saying: “Obviously, you always have individual cases but, overall, it is probably going to stay where it is now.”

Club comes first approach is pleasing following recent local troubles.

Last month, Bury Football Club were expelled from the Football League and Bolton Wanderers were saved from liquidation following a last ditch takeover bid.

These problems have made all fans of the smaller clubs in English football worry about its financial structure, but Garlick’s club-first approach to the running of Burnley will provide a sense of security to Clarets fans.

“We have to be sustainable in our actions financially so something like that never happens to Burnley.

“We do make a profit. Profits will be slightly lower from where they were in previous years because we have had higher net spends on players.

"We’ve always spent a little bit more than we’ve bought in whereas the last declared profits had the Andre Gray and Michael Keane sales, last year we didn’t have as much of that, sold Vokesy [Sam Vokes] in the end and finished lower," Garlick explained.

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The Chairman went on to reveal that, since the first promotion under Sean Dyche, the Clarets have had a net spend of £87.5million.

"When you add it up, it’s a lot of money.

"I don’t know if people realise that, some people might think we’ve broken even, we haven’t."

Anything above survival is a fantastic bonus for the Clarets

Dyche has been at the helm for almost seven years ago now and has overseen a promotion, a relegation, a Championship title, numerous survivals and a Europa League campaign.

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Despite this success, no one has made a move for Dyche to take him away from Turf Moor.

“When we first got promoted in 2009, I think we were just glad to be there, just making it was the real celebration.

“Great thanks to Sean and his team, everyone at the club has put in a great deal of effort, we’ve managed to keep sensible but keep pushing it forward every year, and that’s why we are where we are.

“In my mind, the real established clubs are the big six, once you strip that out any of the other 14, if they’re having a bad run, could go down.

“So we don’t get too carried away and think we are established, we’ve got to be competitive every year to stay in this division.

“Every year is a challenge and brings new challenges, new players arrive, old ones go, you throw that in the mix and we get out on the pitch and do the best we can."

The Clarets have started the season with four points from four games, and face Brighton and Hove Albion after the international break.

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