Peter Crouch is pleased he took the decision to finish his career with Burnley – despite his lack of game time at Turf Moor.
The former England front man made just six substitute appearances for the Clarets after joining from Stoke City in January 2019, when Sam Vokes went in the opposite direction in a deal worth around £7million.
Ex-Liverpool and Tottenham striker Crouch, now 39, chose to retire at the end of that season and pursue a career in the media that had already taken off through his BBC podcast and other punditry work.
There were discussions to be had about potentially staying at Turf Moor for longer and Crouch says while that didn’t happen, he has plenty of respect for manager Sean Dyche having left a difficult environment at Stoke to move to Lancashire and have one final shot at the Premier League.
“I’ve spent some time away from football with him, before and after I signed,” Crouch told BT Sport when asked about the Clarets boss.
“He’s good company and I’ve got on great with him and I didn’t play a great deal when I was up there but I’m so glad I went up there.
“I came from somewhere at Stoke where we got relegated, and I was becoming disillusioned with football in a lot of ways, as just from what happened the dressing room became a little bit toxic.
“It was a breath of fresh air when I went up there and signed.
“I had a laugh, I enjoyed my training, worked hard and it was a nice way to finish my career up at Burnley.”
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