Burnley scout Kral but Newcastle and Brighton also tracking

Burnley, Newcastle, Brighton and Norwich scouted Sunday’s Moscow derby amid rumours three Premier League clubs are interested in Spartak midfielder Alex Kral. Kral impressed on international duty earlier this month when he outshone Declan Rice and Jordan Henderson in midfield as the Czech Republic beat England in Prague.
That is likely to have sent the 21-year-old to the top of many scouts’ ‘to-watch’ lists, with The Clarets, Newcastle and Brighton definitely in Moscow to check on Kral.
Everton have watched him as well, but look pretty well off for central midfielders right now after signing Andre Gomes, Fabian Delph and Jean-Phillipe Gbamin permanently this year.
Kral, who is 6ft 1in tall, can only have impressed the watching scouts when his Spartak Moscow side thrashed rivals Lokomotiv 3-0 at RZD Arena.
However, those desperate to make moves for him in the January transfer window will be disappointed because Kral only joined Spartak on a five-year deal in September and had played six games for former club Slavia Prague.
He, therefore, cannot leave Spartak – who paid over 11m euros for him – until the next summer transfer window.
But Burnley have a pressing need for reinforcements in the middle of the park with only four options available to manager Sean Dyche. Jeff Hendrick, Ashley Westwood and Jack Cork have done a fine job, but the Clarets need on-loan Danny Drinkwater to get fit and start firing as soon as possible.
Dyche could already be on the lookout for next season, in which case Kral could be drafted in to replace Drinkwater if the club don’t try to sign him permanently.
Kral grabbed a goal in the Czech Republic’s 3-2 friendly defeat to Northern Ireland a few days after his country’s win over Gareth Southgate’s men so is clearly a player other clubs will be interested in signing.