BURNLEY chairman Mike Garlick has said the club pulled out of a deal for Poland winger Kamil Grosicki due to the potential impact on the team spirit in Sean Dyche’s squad.

A fee had been agreed with the 28-year-old's club Rennes and he jetted into to Manchester Airport late on deadline day to wrap up a deal.

But the circumstances of the deal changed in the final negotiations and in the end the club pulled the plug on the move for a player who impressed in Euro 2016, although it is understood no blame should be placed at the Ligue 1 club’s door for the collapse of the deal.

Garlick said: “Sean, Dave Baldwin and I decided not to sign a winger from Poland right at the death, due to circumstances  that we felt could have been potentially detrimental to the overall team spirit of our playing squad.

“I could have made myself extremely popular that day with a lot of the fans by sanctioning the signing of this player, but I’m not a populist and I didn’t take on the role of chairman to be popular.

“I did so I could do a good job for our club and sometimes that means making decisions that can initially be, at the very least, puzzling to some fans.”

Garlick also reassured supporters that the Clarets would strengthen again in the January transfer window and admitted he would have shared the fans frustration at the lack of transfer activity in June and July this summer.

He added: “If I was a Burnley fan observing the window I guess I would have been frustrated by relative lack of activity in June and July - but the facts are at this time the players we later signed either were either not available or only available at a significantly higher price.”