Andre Gray highlighted his importance to Burnley with two goals in last weekend's 3-2 loss at Swansea City and his contract situation is becoming a cause for concern.
At the end of the season Gray -- like fellow key player Michael Keane -- will only have a year remaining on his current deal and the club will be vulnerable to offers for the striker.
It has been a mixed campaign for the 25-year-old, who got off to a flying start when tasting Premier League football for the first time in his career, just two years after he had been playing non-league football with Luton Town.
Gray opened his account in the 2-0 win over Liverpool at Turf Moor in August -- the return game is at Anfield on Sunday -- but his celebrations were cut short by the emergence of historic abusive social media posts that were found on his Twitter account. A four-game suspension followed and Sean Dyche appeared initially reluctant to put Gray back into the side, with the striker enduring a difficult spell on the bench on his return from the ban.
But four goals over two games during the festive period announced Gray as a dangerous forward in the top-flight, the cluster of strikes sealing back-to-back victories over strugglers Middlesbrough and Sunderland. A hat trick in the latter match on New Year's Eve displayed the full array of Gray's physical gifts as the Black Cats struggled to cope with his pace and power.
Gray's ultimately fruitless brace at the Liberty Stadium last weekend took his tally in the Premier League to eight goals in 19 starts, which represents a thoroughly decent return for a player stepping up a level. He has outscored England captain Wayne Rooney, as well as squad regulars Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge. Only three English strikers have hit more league goals this season and while talk of an international call is surely too early, he is certainly on the right track.
Last week's goals came at a good time for Gray, as fans had started to raise questions about the striker's place in the team following a run of five games without a goal. His very public relationship with the Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock, documented for all to follow on her social media accounts, offers an easy if unfair route into suggesting he is not fully focused on his football.
Gray answered his harsh critics with one of his sharpest performances for the club and he may well have collected a second Premier League match ball had he been given better service. It has been a familiar story for the Clarets during his time at the club, with Gray occasionally looking a frustrated and isolated figure due to the lack of chances being created for him.
Teams including Tottenham and Crystal Palace have now started to be linked in the rumour mill with moves for the striker which is perhaps a sign of an agent seeking his next big pay day. West Ham were reported to have made a £15million bid for Gray in the January transfer window too.
Gray has opened up about his dreams of playing for England and although Clarets stars Tom Heaton and Keane have both been selected for squads by manager Gareth Southgate this season, the striker may believe he has a better chance of receiving international call-ups if he moves to a bigger club. Keane has backed Gray to follow him and Heaton into the England squad, insisting Gray is "destined" to win caps for his country and while talk is cheap, it is a sign of Gray's ambition that he is already thinking about the national team.
Should Gray opt not to renew his deal, the Clarets would have to cash in on him at the end of the season and be left with a gaping hole in their forward options as a result, with both Sam Vokes and Ashley Barnes having endured poor spells of form as they adapt to the higher level following last year's Championship title triumph. After Patrick Bamford flopped in his loan spell from Chelsea, Dyche's fourth choice attacker is currently teenager Daniel Agyei, who is yet to make his first-team debut but has been named to the bench of late.
Burnley will likely need to buy at least one new striker in the summer transfer window regardless of what happens with Gray, but with Keane likely to depart as his own contract enters its final year, Dyche will want to keep his squad together as much as possible.