Sam Allardyce will demand a HUGE bonus if he replaces sacked Sean Dyche at Burnley

Sam Allardyce will demand a fortune to take over the reins at Burnley following the sacking of Sean Dyche.

The 67-year-old has emerged as the favourite due to his reputation as a survival specialist but it is understood that he has reservations about taking the job at Turf Moor.

Allardyce knows he holds the trump card of facing plenty of relegation battles in the past.

Sam Allardyce is the favourite to take over at Burnley following the sacking of Sean Dyche

It is therefore expected to cost the Clarets a fortunes to bring the experienced manager in, as Allardyce will demand a huge bonus if he takes the job and Burnley avoid relegation – plus the promise of a fresh contract next season. 

Sources close to the former England manager claim it is still far from certain he would take the job unless the terms are simply too good to turn down, according to The Sun.

The early contenders for the job include Allardyce, Slaven Bilic, Wayne Rooney, Chris Wilder and former Burnley captain Michael Duff, who is currently in charge at League One side Cheltenham Town.  

Allardyce has not been in the hotseat since he left West Brom at the end of the 2020-21 season, when the Baggies wanted him to stay after he suffered the first relegation of his career.

His track record speaks for itself as he revived Sunderland and Crystal Palace from unpromising positions and guided West Ham up from the Championship, re-establishing the Hammers as a Premier League club.

The Clarets are four points behind one of Allardyce’s former sides, fourth-bottom Everton, with eight games of the top-flight season remaining.

Burnley are four points adrift of safety with eight Premier League games remaining

That precarious predicament led to Dyche being sacked on Friday after ten largely successful years in charge.

A 2-0 defeat at bottom side Norwich as part of a run of one win and five defeats in seven games was Dyche’s final match in charge

Dyche was the longest-serving manager in the Premier League after taking over in October 2012. 

He led Burnley to two promotions to the top flight, and into Europe for the first time in 51 years in 2018. 

Dyche guided Burnley to two promotions during his 10 years in charge of the club

However, the Lancashire club have struggled under their new American owners this season and decided to make a change after five defeats in their last six games, culminating in last weekend’s collapse at bottom club Norwich.

It is understood that Dyche was not involved in football meetings at the club last week, and the players were informed of his departure on Friday.

The 50-year-old, who in September had signed a new deal until 2025, will be paid a year’s compensation on his £75,000-a-week contract.

His No 2 Ian Woan, first-team coach Steve Stone and goalkeeping coach Billy Mercer have also left Turf Moor.

Under 23s coach Mike Jackson will take temporary charge assisted by captain Ben Mee and academy boss Paul Jenkins. 

Dyche’s relationship with his employers and players is said to have grown increasingly strained this season, and the owners hope the change of manager will improve the atmosphere around the club.

Pace praised Dyche in a statement released on Friday but added: ‘Results this season have been disappointing and, while this was an incredibly difficult decision, with eight crucial games of the campaign remaining, we feel a change is needed to give the squad the best-possible chance of retaining its Premier League status. 

The process of replacing Sean has now begun and further announcements will be made to supporters in due course.’

Burnley chairman Alan Pace said it was an ‘incredibly difficult decision’ to sack Dyche

Sportsmail understands that the seeds of discontent were sown as long ago as August 2018 when Dyche’s decision to rest key players for a Europa League tie against Olympiacos in Athens cost Burnley a chance of progressing in the competition.

One source said last night: ‘He lost the players a while ago. A few of them will not be losing much sleep tonight.’

Eyebrows were raised after this month’s dramatic 3-2 victory over Everton when Dyche declared that Frank Lampard’s team ‘don’t know how to win’ despite the inescapable fact that the Toffees were still above them in the table.

It is understood that Dyche’s role has changed in the last 12 months. Pace has not afforded him the same level of control and the manager was not sitting in on board meetings as before.

The owners considered waiting until the summer to sack him but lost patience on Friday.