Vincent Kompany arrived at Manchester City something of a manager in the making.
He was always a deep thinker, highly intelligent, driven and determined and, when paired with Pep Guardiola, his coaching desire and understanding developed further.
It's therefore perhaps no surprise to see him succeeding as he is at Burnley, who visit the Etihad in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday. The Belgian speaks five languages, completed a master's degree while still a player and has introduced a style and a set-up on and off the pitch at Turf Moor which naturally leads to 'mini Man City' comparisons.
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The Etihad influence is evident. Kompany walked into Burnley in the aftermath of relegation and the sales of a series of star players. He delved straight in, often pulling long hours and is regularly first in and last out of the Clarets' Gawthorpe training ground.
He's overseen a revolution of playing staff and playing style. The rewards have been transformative. Burnley have lost just twice in the Championship this season and are a matter of weeks away from joining City in the top flight. Master against apprentice will be a tantalising fixture next term.
Kompany has spoken a lot about City this week, having gone out of his way to avoid questions about his former club for much of his time in charge in Lancashire. His focus has been on the job at hand.
He leaves no stone unturned, he has regular meetings with staff and players which are detail focussed. His sessions are fresh and the former City skipper makes time for one-on-one chats with his players, either on the training pitch or in his office. While that all might seem commonplace for a manager, Kompany takes it to the next level. His assistant Craig Bellamy jokes that the Belgian must struggle to find time to sleep.
When he's not working, it's family first for the Clarets boss whose wife Carla and three children are all City fans, with the family living just outside Manchester. They often go and watch Guardiola's side but Kompany wasn't at City's game with Leipzig in midweek because he was sat analysing Burnley's midweek opponents Hull City.
The Belgian doesn't know the meaning of a day off. When he arrived in the summer it was September before most of his furniture and belongings made their way from his homeland. As Burnley defender Connor Roberts put it earlier in the campaign: 'He's addicted to football.'
But it's more than that, he's addicted to improvement and success. Kompany is humble, speaks well to the media, doesn't shirk questions or topics, and is quick to praise his players. Off the field he's made little changes designed to have big consequences, the players now stay overnight before home games and travel together to the ground, the hotel has Sky Sports in the room to help occupy player minds, training schedules are adjusted depending on kick-off times to mirror conditions.
Kompany and his staff threw a Christmas party for the players and their families at the training ground which included a live reindeer and Father Christmas for the children. Morale at the training ground is high, helped by results but bred by Kompany's desire and infectious attitude.
There is no talk of promotion despite it being tantilisingly close - Burnley need three wins to be certain of Premier League football - but the attitude is on improvements and the focus is on development. Take care of that and result take care of themselves. And that in turn might just take care of Kompany's future should City come calling.
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