Vincent Kompany has chosen a tricky task at Burnley on return to England

Being appointed Burnley manager was not part of Vincent Kompany’s plan. The Belgian returned to his first club, Anderlecht, in 2019 to start his coaching career after a decade of success at Manchester City and was supposed to transform the team and leave Brussels with a glut of trophies. There was a rebuilding job required but despite green shoots of hope the Kompany era was more evolutionary than revolutionary and his tenure ended three years into a four-year deal.

Finishes of eighth, fourth and third showed progress but not enough for the board, whose tenure was going to end one way or another this summer. There was no shortage of admirers for Kompany, who has the reputation as one of football’s most intelligent and eloquent men. But despite “more appealing offers” Kompany decided the next chapter would be trying to return Burnley to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

There are similarities between the situation he found at Anderlecht and the one he walks into at Turf Moor. A new side needed to be built in Brussels after the best players were sold and there was a desire to create a more youthful team, one that focused on local players because the club lacked the money to buy.

Burnley have a skeletal playing staff and have lost James Tarkowski and Ben Mee. Players such as Nick Pope and Maxwel Cornet are expected to depart and those who remain may find it hard to adapt to Kompany’s tactics. He will need a new captain and centre-back pairing as a priority.

Anderlecht was a long-term project cut short, whereas short-term results will be needed at Burnley to avoid the club’s financial situation becoming perilous.

Kompany used his contacts to bring players to Anderlecht that some would see as out of reach for