Burnley boss Vincent Kompany has hinted he is waiting for Maxwell Cornet and Dwight McNeil to be sold with both players set to miss the opening game against Huddersfield.
Ivory Coast striker Cornet is attracting interest from a number of Premier League clubs, including Everton and West Ham. But a transfer has yet to materialize ahead of Burnley’s date with the Terriers on Friday night.
Cornet is still training with Burnley and is under contract until 2026. But he frustratingly will not be considered against the Terriers due to his physical condition.
Kompany said: “He is one of them that I have had to manage. At the moment he is at the club. Is he ready to play on Friday? Nope.
“But that is a physical level. But we can’t have players on the wage bill and not have them play.
“If next week he is still here and nothing has developed then we are going to have to look at integrating him at least into the matchday process.”
Burnley await McNeil developments
Kompany faces a similar situation with McNeil. There has been reported interest in the winger, but on Wednesday reporter John Percy claimed Everton were in talks with the 22-year-old and were “hopeful” over a deal.
“Dwight is another one, there has been a lot of conversations happening behind the scenes and those happen at a club level,” Kompany added. “He It is one of those we will have to see how it develops.”
It seems likely the pair will move on and that will mean a big overhaul in Kompany’s first few months in charge. The experience Nick Pope, James Tarkowski, Nathan Collins and Ben Mee have all moved on.
And former Man City star Kompany cannot hide from reality after relegation from the Premier League.
“There are loads of reasons to be positive. But I don’t want to get out of the way of reality,” he said.
Kompany: ‘This is the job I signed up for’
“The starting point for us is that we have lost and released a whole bunch of players who were the core of this team for many, many years.
“All the success associated with this club, many of those players have gone. We are trying to replace them with the restrictions that everyone knows.
“That is the job I signed up for. For me to come and tell you we are going to have the best performance ever on Friday, I hope so but it has to be a more long-term planning.
“I want to be really direct with this. I have painted the picture. And I want everyone to be clear about this is what I signed up for, so it is not a surprise.
“There is a part of it that we have lost a huge core of the team without really making money. The idea is that we find players that suit the system and the way we want to play and we grow with them.
“We build foundations and to be healthy again, because this club has been healthy for many years.”
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