BURNLEY have turned down a club record offer of £15million for defender Michael Keane from Leicester City, the Lancashire Telegraph understands.

The 23-year-old is wanted by the Premier League champions to provide competition for established defensive pair Robert Huth and Wes Morgan.

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But the Clarets are desperate to hold on to one of their prized assets, who played 44 times and scored five goals last season as they clinched the Championship title.

And Burnley boss Sean Dyche is keen to add some Premier League experience to the ranks before the top flight season kicks off at home to Swansea on August 13.

He is interested in bringing Stoke City midfielder Charlie Adam to Turf Moor, although an offer for the 30-year-old midfielder is yet to be tabled.

But Dyche will also be keen to keep hold of Keane in a squad that achieved an immediate return to the Premier League last season.

It is unclear at this stage whether the figure includes sell-on clauses and appearance-based add-ons.

Former Manchester United youngster Keane arrived at Turf Moor on loan in September 2014, before making the move permanent by signing a three-and-a-half year contract the following January.

The England Under-21 ace was the target of interest from Stoke in January.

Leicester will be battling for glory on two fronts next season as they undertake their first ever Champions League campaign alongside domestic duties.

They have plenty of cash to splash thanks to the new Premier League TV deal added to the prize money for lifting the title last month, and the Foxes are also in talks with Watford over signing striker Troy Deeney for a reported £30m.

Yesterday Leicester announced the capture of Sporting Gijon defender Luis Rodriguez, 27, but that has not deterred their interest in Keane.

His stock is also still high in the East Midlands from his six-month loan spell in 2012-13, when he played 27 games and scored three goals as the Foxes lost out to Watford in the Championship play-off semi-finals.

Claudio Ranieri’s assistant and head of recruitment, Chorley-born Steve Walsh, was at the club under Nigel Pearson at the time and rates Keane highly. The Stockport-born defender has another admirer in Walsh’s fellow assistant coach Craig Shakespeare.

Huth and Morgan were both instrumental in the Foxes’ success last season, as part of a defence that kept 15 Premier League clean sheets as they went on to win the title by 10 points.

But with the pair now aged 32 and 31 respectively, there are concerns at the King Power Stadium that their ageing limbs might not stand up to the stress of another full top flight campaign.

Morgan, in particular, has played almost non-stop for the last two years. He featuring for every minute of last season sandwiched by two tournaments with Jamaica last summer and further international duty with the Reggae Boyz in the Copa America this month.

Meanwhile, Burnley target Adam has two years left on his contract at the Britannia Stadium and is understood to be happy to remain at the club under manager Mark Hughes.

He made 25 appearances for the Potters last season, scoring one goal.