Vincent Kompany could already have his own version of Fernandinho at Tottenham if he becomes Daniel Levy's next manager choice. The former Manchester City duo spent several seasons in the same team winning numerous trophies with their on-pitch relationship crucial to City's success.
Kompany's playing days are over though and life as a manager back in England, after three seasons at Anderlecht, started at the beginning of the 2022/23 campaign with Burnley. Nine months on and Kompany will be making his Premier League return - but as a manager - after winning promotion with the Clarets from the Championship.
The 37-year-old has revolutionized Burnley's style with Sean Dyche's pragmatic methods replaced by Kompany's desire to play free-flowing attacking football. In his system, the importance of an all-action central midfielder is vital and that is largely why he chose to bring Josh Cullen with him to Burnley from Anderlecht.
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However, if Kompany does opt to become Tottenham's next manager he does not need to repeat that transfer as Spurs already have the perfect midfield destroyer. Yves Bissouma joined the club in what looked to be the transfer steal of the summer for just £25million from Brighton, but it has not quite gone to plan so far.
Injuries, the predominant two-man midfield formation used and Antonio Conte's tactical demands of his central midfielders have all seen Bissouma struggle significantly. The 26-year-old was also hit by an injury at the worst possible time with fellow midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur tearing his ACL two days after it was announced Bissouma was set to undergo surgery to repair a stress fracture to his left ankle.
Over the last few months Bissouma has mostly been forgotten about and with no return appearing imminent, his first campaign at the Lilywhites can largely now be written off. But a good pre-season where injury issues remain behind him could see him kick on, and under Kompany he could certainly rediscover the form developed on the south coast that saw him become one of the most-talked about midfielders in the league.
Over years of sustained dominance at City, Kompany and Fernandinho built up a clear understanding and the former can use his experience to help Bissouma develop as a player.
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