"No, no, no!"
Vincent Kompany is not a man to shirk challenges but there is absolutely no part of him that wishes he was part of the Manchester City team challenging for a historic Treble. Pep Guardiola wanted his captain to stay when he bowed out in 2019 after leading the club to a domestic clean sweep that included that spectacular strike against Leicester to help them beat Liverpool to the Premier League title, but Kompany knew what he needed from his career and that meant his first coaching job at Anderlecht.
The current Burnley manager was at a community leisure centre close to Turf Moor last week to accept an induction into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame, and admits he works so hard he does not leave much time to reflect on the stellar playing career that saw him granted a statue outside the Etihad Stadium for his mammoth contribution to City's rise to the top of English football. After 11 years of giving everything he had to the club, Kompany can now enjoy supporting them as a fan in a break from his day job.
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"No, no, no, I would have had to wait for another four years [for the Treble attempt]," he laughed "I've done my time, no regrets. I'm happy I started young as a coach, I'm just looking forward to what my career has to bring.
"I probably should take a little bit more time to reflect and appreciate but I'm driven by what's to come in the future. I've been extremely focused on getting next season ready but I've done it with a smile on my face, I've been happy as well.
"On the other side, I'm still a supporter wanting them to achieve everything they want to achieve. It's not just [City], it's a lot of players that I know still that I just want to do well. I wish them the best."
Kompany has been back to watch City games several times this season, and may well be in attendance for the remaining matches against Real Madrid and Chelsea as the Blues try to make history with their Treble attempt. There are many at the club that would like to see him back there as a manager in what would be an immensely popular appointment.
Guardiola, who has sat in the chair for the last seven years, has no doubts that Kompany will one day manage there and spent the press conferences around their FA Cup meeting with Burnley eulogising about the 37-year-old. Yet, however much Kompany will forever be linked to City, there was a good reason he asked Guardiola to stop touting him as a potential successor.
Since leaving in 2019, Kompany has set out to make his own way as a coach. The Belgian worked hard to convince Anderlecht that he was not trying to make them some outpost for City or Guardiola, and many at Burnley have been struck by the way he has adopted their club into his psyche so wholly and quickly; Mr City is now Mr Burnley.
Kompany could walk into paid jobs giving his analysis on this City team or top-flight football in general, but there are good reasons he decided to go into coaching and there is no room for mixing the two. Just like in his playing days, when Kompany commits to something there is no going back.
"It is to do with what I want to do. I spend literally so many hours of my day and so many days of my week working hard - and it is a hard job as it is - to make what I'm doing successful that I never want to be dragged into a conversation about anything else," he told the Manchester Evening News.
"It's nothing to do with Man City, it's just in general. It is a discipline I want to keep for the rest of my career. If I do that, I just want to remain as dedicated as I can to the job that I've been entrusted with and the responsibility that I have."
That attitude has already catapulted Kompany's managerial career after a phenomenal start to life at Turf Moor. A Burnley team that many expected to struggle back in the Championship have instead been promoted back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, playing an attractive brand of football that brought them 101 points and 87 goals.
And if he struggles to find the time to look back on his playing days, his attitude has carried across effortlessly. Collecting his award from the National Football Museum, Kompany picks his Leicester goal as a highlight but includes the injury problems that he endured earlier in that season to illustrate how rewards come from hard work.
He has a similar story already from his coaching career, talking of the criticism he endured when Anderlecht lost a cup final on penalties to Gent in 2021 serving as a useful lesson to refer back to as he brought success to Burnley. "After the storm comes a sunshine," he tells the room, and elaborates on the impact of these setbacks afterwards.
"They motivate me. You use it as fuel," he said. "There's not a part of that game that I have regrets on.
"It's life, it's' how you learn and it's the reason you become successful later. It's to deal with those pains and use them as fuel to strengthen you.
"You try and put yourself in an environment where you can be judged on something a little bit more than results. It's extremely rare. You want to win, but you want to surround yourself with people who want you to do well. That's the key aspect of this job, to find an environment like this."
The sun is certainly shining on Kompany now, and he must feel that forgiving environment exists at Turf Moor to have signed a new long-term contract with the club that puts to bed any links with other Premier League jobs for now. Having taken Burnley up, the Belgian will be in position for the challenge of trying to keep them up.
That will involve coming up against City again, a club designed to keep Guardiola as happy as possible so that he stays as long as possible pushing the team to new levels and new achievements. Whenever his success is mentioned, the Catalan often mentions the difficult first season he had in England when his bosses backed him unquestionably despite the lack of results.
All have benefitted since, and while Kompany's immediate future will be all about Burnley his progress will be enthusiastically followed by the City hierarchy as they plan ahead. Having liked everything they have seen and heard so far from the young manager, the Blues will do their best to ensure home is exactly how Kompany wants it if and when Guardiola's prediction comes true.
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