Opinion: 19-year-old Man City forward should be Burnley’s number one transfer target this summer

Now that he has been confirmed as Burnley’s new first-team manager, Vincent Kompany has a big task on his hands to rebuild the Clarets and secure an immediate return to the Premier League for the Lancashire outfit.

Their six-year stay in England’s top flight came to an end last month – as did Sean Dyche’s reign a month before the 2021-22 campaign ended – and following what seemed like an eternity for the club’s fans to wait, Kompany was appointed last week after he was finally handed a work permit.

The Belgian though is walking into a job where a lot of the club’s senior squad has departed – the likes of James Tarkowski, Ben Mee, Aaron Lennon and Erik Pieters have already departed, and there’s already transfer links to Maxwel Cornet, Dwight McNeil, Nathan Collins and Nick Pope amongst others.

Then, when you factor in the likes of Wout Weghorst who have stated publicly their desire to leave, then Kompany has a big job on his hands to bring new faces in, and it remains to be seen what kind of budget he has as the Clarets have to repay some of a loan that Alan Pace took out following his purchase of the club in December 2020.

One avenue Kompany would be foolish not to explore is potential loan players from his former club Manchester City, where he is held in extremely high regard.

The Premier League champions have a plethora of young talent ready for regular Championship football as a stepping stone for the next part of their careers, and one has already been linked in the form of Taylor Harwood-Bellis, with Kompany already having managed the centre-back for half a season at Anderlecht last year.

It’s not just the back-line that Kompany needs to look at though – his striking options need freshening up as well, with both