Burnley bid £10.2m for promising Montpellier centre-back Maxime Esteve… but the French side are desperate to hang on to the 21-year-old and have rejected bids from other suitors

Burnley have stepped up their bid to sign Montpellier centre-back Maxime Esteve, offering £10.2m with a 15 percent sell-on clause. 

The Clarets have the second-worst defensive record in the Premier League and Vincent Kompany wants to strengthen his defensive options. 

Montpellier have already rejected a £9.7million advance from Nottingham Forest for Esteve this January. 

Esteve, 21, has emerged as one of the brightest young defensive talents in France and has a plethora of suitors with Montpellier determined to keep hold of him until at least the end of the season.

A 6ft 4in centre-back, Esteve’s current contract at the Stade de la Mosson has another two-and-a-half years left to run.

Vincent Kompany is trying to steer Burnley out of the relegation zone and fixing a porous defence is part of the plan 

As well as Steve Cooper’s side, the likes of Everton and Serie A outfit Sassuolo have also approaches turned down.

After starting the season on the bench, he has developed into an important starter for Montpellier, who sit 12th in Ligue 1. 

The centre-back has been caped at U21s level by France. 

Considering that theyare five points off safety, Burnley have had a relatively quiet transfer window.

Their only incoming has been the loan signing of David Datro Fofana from Chelsea, the striker who scored twice in 17 games at Union Berlin in the first half of the season.