Vincent Kompany believes the ‘outstanding’ Dwight McNeil would have been one of the finest players in the Championship if he had not sealed a Premier League return with Everton last summer, speaking to Lancs Live, but is still ‘really glad’ Burnley managed to agree a big-money sale.
When the England U21 international made that £20 million move to Goodison Park, he probably didn’t envision the prospect of Everton and Burnley exchanging divisions during the summer of 2023.
Kompany’s Clarets are flying in the second-tier; promotion all-but guaranteed. The same cannot be said of Everton’s top-flight status. A bright start to life under Sean Dyche dissipating in recent weeks.
Former Manchester City captain Kompany believes that McNeil could have taken the Championship by storm at Burnley. But the sale of both him and Wolves’ Nathan Collins freed up the funds required for Burnley to restructure their squad. A team renowned for their directness under Dyche now the EFL’s answer to City; Kompany in the Pep Guardiola role.
Burnley sold Dwight McNeil to Everton for £20m
“We expected (McNeil and Collins to go). I could’ve had Dwight McNeil, who I rate really highly, and Nathan Collins. (Both) would’ve no doubt been outstanding players in the Championship,” Kompany muses.
“They would’ve been among the best. But if one of them got injured, we wouldn’t have been able to bring in any replacement.
“For the price of Nathan Collins, we got four centre backs. We got an entire squad in for the price of one!
“When I came here (selling McNeil and Collins) was something I was reluctant to do in the beginning. I’m really glad we did it now because of the squad depth, which would’ve been completely eroded if we didn’t make that decision.”
Burnley brought in the likes of Anass Zaroury, Manuel Benson, Josh Cullen and Vitinha last summer; four signings who have contributed to what is shaking up to be one of the club’s most succesful campaigns ever.
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