Former City favourite set to return to England

A Manchester City favourite is set to return to England with the former captain set to be appointed manager of Burnley.

Vincent Kompany has reportedly held talks with the Clarets in the last month and is currently the bookies’ choice to take over from Sean Dyche with an announcement all made easier following his recent announcement.

The Belgian confirmed his departure from his home team, RSC Anderlecht, with the club announcing they have parted ways due to mutual consent after analysing their 3rd position in the league this year.

Much like his position at the Etihad during the 11 years, the western Brussels based club confirmed that Kompany “was, is and will remain an icon of the club and will always find a home at Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht”.

"The 89-cap Red Devil, said: “Today only one feeling prevails: I am proud that I was able to start this new chapter at the club of my heart. I have now been a player and a coach of RSC Anderlecht, but above all, I remain a loyal fan.”"

His first managerial position began in August 2020 as a player-coach, before taking the position full-time and achieving a further third-place finish after a difficult start to the season.

It is reported he is coming back to England for family reasons and will likely take up the position at the Lancashire club recently relegated from the Premier League following their final day defeat to Newcastle.

Should he take the hotseat at Turf Moor then how difficult will his job be? The simple answer is more challenging than people will expect.

The Championship is a hard league in which AFC Bournemouth, Sheffield United and West Brom will all testify as they failed to bounce back to the Premier League in their first season back.

His job will be more difficult as an exodus of their star players is expected. James Tarkowski will leave on a free, while Nick Pope will want Premier League football to confirm his spot at this year’s World Cup. Dwight McNeil, Maxwell Cornet and Wout Weghorst will also be pressing to leave to match their aspirations.

That doesn’t leave much quality in the ranks should they all depart with former City youth player, Ben Mee, unlikely to desert the club that gave him so much.

Recouping money on those players will be beneficial due to the need to reconfigure finances to be sustainable, as relegation will trigger an early repayment clause in a £65m loan from their lenders, which has so far been repaid on an interest-only basis. Parachute payments of £42 million will likely be credited to that loan in the first season, leaving little for signings.

This may force Kompany to test City’s squad by submitting loan bids for several City youth development team; Liam Delap, James McAtee, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Claudio Gomes all likely ready to face a season in the Championship for their development.

A win-win for both clubs if any of those moves are granted as Kompany was a manager to favour youth during his time in the Belgian Pro League, allowing the younger players to gain experience in the club’s rebuild.

No matter what happens I’m sure the fans at the Etihad will welcome him into the dugout 29 miles or so up the M66 and back into English football. Who knows, he could be a prime candidate to replace a departing Pep Guardiola in a few years’ time if successful.