Burgeoning star Bashir Humphreys said his time at Burnley has helped him develop as a player since his loan arrival from Premier League high-flyers Chelsea in August.
The defender’s parent club have splashed the cash and spent more than £1 billion on players since 2022, and their inflated squad means Humphreys is one of twelve players currently out on loan.
Humphreys is thriving at Championship promotion contenders Burnley and crucial to its defence which recently kept a record-breaking twelve consecutive clean sheets. Humphreys started eight of these fixtures, playing all three games against promotion rivals Sheffield United, Sunderland and Leeds United; Scott Parker clearly trusts the England U21 international.
The talented 21-year-old says there’s no easy answer to how the Clarets have pulled off their stunning feat of just eleven goals conceded across thirty-seven league games.
‘‘To be honest, it might sound bad, but we don’t really think about it that much, we honestly step into every game and try to keep clean sheets.
‘‘In terms of the records, it’s something we’re proud of, sometimes we do look at each other in training and then we’re like, wow, how we are doing this, this is amazing, but it’s not a big focus for us to be fair.’’
The versatile defender had been in fine form of late, with analytics website Sofascore giving him an average rating of 7.06 across the season. However, he recently picked up a quad injury and his few weeks absence has been a huge blow to Burnley’s promotion hopes; they’ve conceded two goals in two games without Humphreys following the historic consecutive clean sheet feat.
Humphreys has featured at left-back, right-back and centre-back across the 2024-25 Sky Bet Championship campaign. He’s currently flourishing at left-back, using his tall, strong, athletic frame to drive his team up the pitch. His attacking prowess is becoming more prominent each week and his manager Scott Parker explained his enjoyment seeing him score in the recent home win vs Hull City.
‘‘I am really pleased for Bash (Bashir Humphreys), his first for the club, he came inside, and it was a lovely strike from him.’’
The Exeter-born man signed for Chelsea’s under-15 team from grassroots football following on from a spell in Reading’s academy programme. Throughout his youth career Humphreys was renowned for being a ballplaying defender, who loves having the ball at his feet, predominantly at centre-back.
His ball-playing ability has come to fruition this season, primarily on the left-hand side, and it’s reflected in the data. Humphreys is averaging 4.68 passes into the final third (93rd percentile) and 5.11 progressive passes (88th percentile) compared to his positional peers per 90 minutes, per FBRef. He’s highly influential to Burnley breaking the lines, provides an outlet down the left-hand side as we see in his 24-25 heat map, and helps his side transition from defence to attack with speed. Humphreys also wins 71.4% of his tackles (87.5th percentile), averaging 2.13 per 90 minutes.
The Chelsea academy product explained his growth in a role he hasn’t featured in all too often until representing claret and blue.
‘‘I’m enjoying it, it’s been a real, growth period for me, in the sense of, I wasn’t coming in expecting to play fullback as much as I have, but I’m really starting to enjoy it, and I’m enjoying my football for sure,” said Humphreys.
Humphreys adds that he’s simply happy to be playing regular football in a side that’s eyeing a return to the Premier League. At present, Burnley sit third, just one point off Leeds United who are in the automatic promotion spot.
He said: ‘‘Whatever your situation is, you just want to play. The manager can honestly put me anywhere in the pitch, and I’ll just be happy to be on there, playing football.’’
His adaptability is astonishing for a 21-year-old man, as is his left-foot, which has been particularly eye-catching, as Humphreys has been one of the most accurate crossers in the division, finding his teammates at a 40.0% (93.9 percentile) rate. He is also the second successful left-back to feature on loan from Chelsea after Ian Maatsen’s successful spell under Vincent Kompany.
Burnley reportedly have a mandatory buy clause come the end of the season and will thank their lucky stars if so; he won’t be short of interest this summer.