Norwich, Aston Villa or Crystal Palace – where next for Sean Dyche after Burnley?

Despite having two years remaining on his contract, Sean Dyche’s time at Burnley could come to an abrupt end far sooner than 2022.  

Sportsmail revealed last month how the manager had been frustrated by the club’s failure to agree contract extensions for several senior players this summer. 

Dyche then became further disillusioned in recent weeks after being told there will be little money for new signings when the transfer window opens next month. 

Seeing out his final two years would make it a decade for Dyche at Turf Moor but issues are rearing their head in public this season and it could be a parting of ways is on the horizon. 

The 49-year-old has built a top-half team who reached the qualifying stages of the Europa League in 2018-19. 

Burnley remain in the European hunt this season following their draw with Sheffield United and so it remains unclear where exactly Dyche could slot in given his current situation should he opt for pastures new. Sportsmail weighs up some of his options.  

Norwich – 3/1

Norwich arrived in the Premier League to great fanfare and aside from some standout performances, they are going down as many predicted. 

Daniel Farke did a brilliant job to get them up into the Premier League but he simply did not have the nous or the squad to keep them there. 

Enter Dyche. 

The no-nonsense Burnley boss would make them far tougher to beat and that alone would give them a fighting chance of greater success. 

In Teemu Pukki he would have a capable goalscorer and provided both Jamal Lewis and Max Aarons could be retained,  they have young threats in wide areas.

Convincing Dyche to walk away from the cusp of European football for the second tier next season may be where the problem lies for Norwich. 

What the disillusionment of late has shown is that Dyche wants to be backed financially and it may take certain promises in Norfolk to get him to buy into starting up a whole new project at Carrow Road.  

Aston Villa – 4/1

Much like Norwich, there is no vacancy at Villa but Dyche could see a real opportunity to wake a sleeping giant if one does. 

They spent just shy of £145million following promotion to the Premier League and, to be frank, it hasn’t translated effectively into points. 

Villa are slumped in the relegation zone and face a tricky task to remain in the top flight with games running out. 

Unquestionably Villa are a big club and Dyche, even if they were to drop down a level, would be able to see the project at hand. 

A bigger stadium and greater financial muscle in comparison to Burnley could prove alluring if Smith is out come the end of this campaign. 

Star-man Jack Grealish is likely to be sold and so there is likely to be money available to shake things up once again.  

Bournemouth – 6/1

For a side who have consistently punched above their weight, it has all unravelled for Bournemouth and Eddie Howe this season. 

A mixture of misfortune with injuries and mistakes in the transfer market have caught up with the Cherries and they look likely to join Norwich and Villa in dropping down as things stand. 

Dyche has enjoyed consistency in his position at Burnley and Bournemouth are another club that has been keen to retain the status quo under Howe. 

Whether Howe, who guided them miraculously into the Premier League, is shown the door remains to be seen but in Dyche, there will be no better candidate in the eyes of executives should he call for early divorce with Burnley. 

Crystal Palace – 6/1 

Managerial vacancies typically arise when a club is performing below expectations, hence why Norwich, Aston Villa and Bournemouth are the most fancied landing spots for Dyche. 

But while Crystal Palace are thriving under Roy Hodgson, the 72-year-old will not go on forever at Selhurst Park and Dyche is likely to be a name high on the list of his eventual successors. 

Hodgson signed a new deal back in March to take him through until 2021 but beyond that is anybody’s guess. 

Palace have been credited with an interest in Dyche in the past but it never got to a stage where either party needed to cross the T’s and dot the I’s.  

But speaking on the Eamonn and the Gaffers podcast recently, Dyche left the door open for suitors: ‘I think the honest answer is that we’ve done a lot of work at Burnley.

‘It’s how far you can keep the journey going, where it can go. So there’s a reality to that. If the opportunity to come to somewhere that I thought would really enhance my chances as a manager to continue improving and continue testing myself, who knows?’ 

QPR – 9/1

Now we get to the outside bets, clubs that may try to pull off a real coup to get Dyche in in the hope he can transform them in a similar way to Burnley. 

QPR are marooned in mid-table in the Championship under Mark Warburton and could look to make a major power-play to close the gap on the league leaders for 2020-21. 

Dyche has a track record of squeezing potential and talent from low-budget players and he improving those he inherits. 

A move to west London would represent challenges on and off the pitch but having spent time with Watford during his playing career, he is not exactly unfamiliar with the English capital. 

Could take a big financial offering to coax him from Turf Moor for Loftus Road, mind.  

Stoke City – 12/1 

For a long time, Stoke were doing exactly what Burnley do now. They may not have won prizes for the most attractive brand of football but they were efficient, won games and eventually made it into Europe under Tony Pulis. 

These days, things have regressed badly in the Potteries and the club have long been crying out for a safe pair of hands at the wheel. 

Nathan Jones’ stock at Luton saw him land the job before he fell on his face and current incumbent Michael O’Neill is finding out just how tough a Championship relegation battle is. 

O’Neill was a big-name arrival in itself and while the club have shown a ruthlessness not to leave the wrong man in the job for too long, Dyche may prove beyond them at this stage. 

But, in the world of football, stranger things have happened.