BURNLEY had to say no to a bid for Richard Chaplow - whatever was offered.

With money being tight I have to say that the Clarets have done well to turn down Leeds United's move for their talented teenage midfielder, but really there was no other path open to them.

What kind of message would it have sent out to Clarets fans had they been prepared to cash in?

But it was no surprise when you look at where the bid has come from.

With Sam Ellis having gone to Leeds after leaving Turf Moor, it is obvious he has told them what Chaplow is like and about the potential he has.

While Sam going to Leeds was surprise enough for me, now he is there it is hardly a shock that Leeds are on the scene.

United have been signing players and you would think they will be a top six side next season, while even as a Burnley fan I feel we will be struggling to break out of the bottom six all year, but even then the club could not give in.

Richard is important to Burnley. There has been a lot of talk about getting the academy going again and he is the first of what will hopefully be a string of young talents to be produced at Turf Moor.

But, while Leeds might have been a good move for him, the club have to look to their own playing staff - and also the possibility that if Chaplow has another great season it will be the other Uniteds of Manchester and Newcastle who are interested.

I think next season will be a really tough one for Chappy.

While I was at the club I never saw a lot of him as Stan Ternent kept the youngsters apart from the first team, but last term he got his chance and kept his place, and then went on to become the first Claret to be picked for England' s Under-21s.

The new season will be an even bigger challenge because he will have lost the element of surprise.

Last season other teams did not know what he was about, but this time round they will be looking to stop him playing and he will have to try twice as hard to get the same results.

Plus the expectation levels of those around him, and the fans, will also have risen - so he will have to be strong.

It will be up to him to produce the goods - but what is important is that he will be trying to do that playing for Burnley.