Vincent Kompany has hailed Ireland midfielder Josh Cullen as the “ultimate player.”
Kompany took the former West Ham man from Anderlecht to Championship side Burnley when he took over from Sean Dyche during the summer.
And despite having handed Cullen 55 first-team appearances in Belgium, the former Manchester City man still couldn’t believe how quickly he settled at Turf Moor.
Kompany admitted that he initially saw the Ireland ace as a squad player at Anderlecht, but that his performances quickly changed that.
“I can't be complimentary enough, but I think everyone can see what he does,” said Kompany.
“The team appreciates it. His strength is that he's the ultimate player that puts the team before himself.
“Football naturally always drives you towards being selfish, it just happens that way because you've got to look after yourself.
“There are only very few players, despite all of that, who decide to make a conscious choice to put the team above themselves.
“You can't really scout that, you only know it when you work with players.
“The best way to describe Josh is that he came to Anderlecht, from Charlton, as a squad player and he became the most important player in my squad.
“Then he came to Burnley, back in English football in the Championship, where he was really going to help us out, and he became one of the most important players in the team.”
Burnley are all but certain to return to the Premier League this year, with 18 points separating the league leaders and third placed Watford.
With just two defeats in 28 games, they are five points clear of Sheffield United in second place.
Cullen, who was last year named as Ireland’s senior international Player of the Year, has also been described as “an example” to the rest of the Burnley squad.
“If you set up a session, and you pass the first ball in that session, that's going to be at the best possible standard he can do it at,” said Kompany.
“Then the last tackle he's going to make in every single session will be at the highest possible standard he can do it at.
“It's hard to ever predict how far these types of players will go because he has the attitude and resilience of a top athlete and any limitations he has he just seems to overcome and go above.
“He's an example for other players as well because some players with extreme talent would have tremendous careers with half of what he has in terms of personality and attitude.”
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