Burnley might feel aggrieved after losing 'most beautiful girl in town', but they must move on fast

Unfortunately for the Clarets, that beautiful girl has just been swept off her feet by a Hollywood heart-throb.

“Everyone else wants to marry her,” Pace said in May 2023. “So it’s like, how long can you date? How long can you stay together? How long can you be a couple?

“I hope it's for a very, very, very long time. But again that’s kind of up to her."

As it turns out, the relationship only lasted another 12 months.

During that year, Burnley went from the highest of highs in the Championship to the lowest of lows in the Premier League, suffering the club’s lowest points tally in the three-point-for-a-win era.

Kompany’s reward? Just one of the biggest and most-coveted gigs in world football.

It’s an incredible move for the Clarets boss and you can’t begrudge or blame him for taking the plunge. He was never going to turn it down.

But by the same token, it’s understandable if the club and the fans are feeling a little sore right now, a little hard done-by having stuck by him during this season’s miserable campaign.

Not once did Pace or the board consider sacking him when most other clubs perhaps would have done. Other than a brief angry episode at Selhurst Park, the supporters never turned on him.

There’s also a sense, rightly or wrongly, that Kompany pushed for a move away given the previous speculation linking him with Brighton and Brentford.

Given all the talk of a long-term project, the sizeable investment and backing Kompany was given ahead of the club’s return to the Premier League, there’s no doubt the club has been built, or rebuilt, in his image.

Now, only a few weeks after Burnley’s relegation was confirmed, he’s upped sticks to take a bigger and better job. That’s football I suppose, but it’s still gotta’ hurt.

Why exactly are Bayern so keen to appoint someone that has just overseen Burnley’s relegation from the Premier League, with a measly return of 24 points?

After the initial shock, I can see the logic. For a start, they’ve already been knocked back by plenty of other coaches, so it’s not like Kompany was their leading candidate.

But nevertheless, irrespective of what happened this season, there can be no doubt over Kompany’s standing in the game. He remains a hugely impressive figure, both on and off the pitch.

His style of play, and his stubbornness in largely sticking to that approach, has garnered criticism and praise in equal measure. Bayern, it appears, admire the Belgian for sticking to his principles. Others will say he ought to have adapted.

It’s important, however, to note that in three of the four seasons Kompany has managed so far – two at Anderlecht and another two at Turf Moor – the Belgian has been successful in adopting an attacking, possession-based approach with teams expected to dominate the ball against lower blocks. You can see why that would attract Bayern and their data will no doubt back up their point.

There’s an understanding among the Bavarian giants that Kompany has learned a significant amount from his previous coaches, namely Pep Guardiola – who let’s not forget was a huge success at the Allianz Arena.

While it’s undoubtedly taking a huge risk bringing in Kompany, they will be hoping to see a similar impact to that Xabi Alonso enjoyed at Bayer Leverkusen, who didn’t exactly set the world alight at Real Sociedad beforehand.

There will also be a feeling that Kompany’s style is far more likely to translate to Bayern’s world class array of talent than it has done to Burnley’s squad in the cruel, harsh world of the Premier League.

Kompany is also a natural leader, someone who will feel confident of handling the egos of Manuel Neuer, Jamal Musiala and Harry Kane – a similar level of player to ones he shared a dressing room with at Manchester City.

While Kompany hasn’t lived or played in Germany since 2008, he does have a knowledge of the Bundesliga from his time playing for Hamburg and speaks the language well.

Max Eberl, sporting director at Bayern, is reportedly well known to Kompany. It’s claimed Eberl sees Kompany as one of the most talented young head coaches in world football. So as you put the jigsaw pieces together, you can see how the wheels turned in motion.

More importantly, what now for Burnley? They were left somewhat blindsided by this, initially anyway. But they’ve since had over a week to get their head around it and have since begun the process of identifying Kompany’s successor.

They’ve been left with a bloated squad of almost 40 players, one that is in urgent need of trimming down.

The squad also largely consists of players that made the move to Turf Moor to work for Kompany. How exactly are they feeling at this moment in time?

In one way, it’s good this has happened just a couple of weeks after the season’s end. It gives the Clarets time to identify a replacement.

But the lack of structure behind the scenes must be a concern. So many of the staff, like the squad, are here for Kompany. There’s likely to be some uncertainty lingering for a while.

There are plenty of questions that need answering, ones the club probably weren’t expecting only a week and a half ago. But such is the crazy world of football.

Kompany provided some unbelievable moments for the club, most notably during that debut season: the comeback at the Stadium of Light, the derby win at Turf Moor, sealing promotion at Middlesbrough and winning the title at Ewood. Kompany has certainly left an impact.

Now, it’s time for somebody else to step up and provide memories of their own.