Gary Neville & Jamie Carragher deliver Vincent Kompany assessment ahead of Burnley’s return to the Premier League

The Sky Sports punditry duo have been discussing Burnley’s chances back in the Premier League on the latest edition of The Overlap Fan Debate, in partnership with Sky Bet.

It comes ahead of the season opener on Friday night, where the Clarets host reigning champions Manchester City at Turf Moor.

“I went to see Vincent Kompany around five or six weeks ago and they had started pre-season training. It was a weird thing,” Neville said.

“The season finished quite early and Burnley went up quite early, so he brought them back after three weeks which was before the season had just finished for the Premier League. I was like ‘What’s happening here?’ And then he was going away with them for a 10-day camp, then they were having another 10 days off and they were having another block for pre-season.

“It’s a really interesting way of doing pre-season. I had never seen it before and never heard of it before.

“He’s obviously a workaholic – I know we say this sometimes about managers, but I think he genuinely sleeps four or five hours a night. He’s one of them managers who’s up till 10 o’clock at night, leaves the training ground at eight o’clock.

“Some of the players that have been great players – they haven’t done that 12-to-14-hour day every day and lived it and breathed it. Managers live it and breathe it, they want to do well but then there is that element of obsession.

“When I went to see Vincent Kompany for those few hours, you get a feeling from speaking to people on the grounds or the physio ‘Oh what’s he like?’ and they’ll say, ‘Oh we don’t go home till half eight or nine o’clock at night.’

“Straight away you’re thinking there is an obsession there – he’s not leaving anything to chance.

“It’s going to be really hard work for those that are there, Burnley have always worked hard when Sean Dyche was there. But a different feeling then when Sean Dyche was there with Vincent Kompany – he’s done well.”

Carragher has been equally as impressed with Kompany’s transition from legendary player into successful manager.

Given the respect the Belgian commanded as a player, especially with Manchester City, the former Liverpool man is not surprised by how well Kompany has done up to this point.

“Vincent Kompany is one of those players where when you think of a great player becoming a manager – straight away when you walk through the door you’ve got that respect because you get that,” he explained.

“But very few players have got what he’s got because he has unbelievable respect in a dressing room at Manchester City that had some of the best players in the world and you know he was still that leader, that presence – the one they all looked up to.

“He’s the type of guy where if he wasn’t a football manager he could be involved in politics or something.”