Burnley defender Nathan Collins has admitted he doesn’t know where his future lies amid growing Premier League interest in the Irishman.
The 21-year-old has just suffered relegation to the Championship, but despite the poor end to the season, Collins showed signs of quality throughout his 19 top flight appearances.
Reports are beginning to surface linking Collins with a move straight back to the Premier League with clubs such as Leeds United, Wolves and Aston Villa rumoured to be monitoring his situation at Burnley.
Collins has recently been on international duty with Republic of Ireland and played in their huge 3-0 victory over Scotland last week.
He will join up with the Burnley squad following some time on holiday, where he will no doubt begin to question where his future lies.
Speaking to Lancs Live, Collins wasn’t able to provide much reassurance that he’d still be wearing Burnley’s claret and blue come the start of the 2022/23 campaign. he said on his future:
“Who knows? I don’t know myself.”
The former Stoke City man went onto speak about his thoughts on recently appointed Burnley boss Vincent Kompany, he added:
“He’s a natural leader, isn’t he? He was a top player and has done it at the top level. He has shown that over many years, and everyone knows how good a manager he is too. He has done a really good job with Anderlecht and I think he is a really top guy, from the outside anyway.”
Kompany is about to step into English football as a manager for the first time and whilst he’s proved himself at Anderlecht, the task at Burnley is very different and the demands of English football are on another level.
Does Kompany hold all the power?
The former Manchester City captain is highly thought of in football and he will have a lot of respect in his new dressing room.
But that being said, does Kompany have the pull factor needed to tempt Collins to remain in the second tier when there are strong reports of Premier League interest?
If anyone can, it’s the former Belgian international, but the temptation to play top flight football may be too much to resist for the young prospect.
Collins is certainly a good player, maybe too good for the Championship, and so the Clarets will do well to keep hold of him beyond this summer.
