Vincent Kompany will make his English managerial debut on July 29th as Burnley face Huddersfield Town on the opening night of the Championship season. 

The Belgian has already made his mark with the fans, completing numerous signings to build a revitalised Burnley.

His Manchester City links have bought in young centre-backs CJ Egan-Riley and Taylor Harwood-Bellis, whilst the club have looked at some of the best from League One last season with Scott Twine and Luke McNally joining the ranks. 

Samuel Bastien arrived from Standard Liege before Josh Cullen returned to English football, leaving Anderlecht behind. 

Ian Maatsen joined the Clarets on a season-long loan from Chelsea and is the club's latest signing.

However, the summer business has been far from perfect, with a series of high-profile, albeit expected, departures leaving the club in a tough place.

Several of Burnley's Premier League stalwarts have left the club. Ben Mee, James TarkowskiAaron Lennon, Phil Bardsley, Dale Stephens and Erik Pieters were all released at their end of the contracts. Mee and Tarkowski both expressed their desires to leave bringing the end to a formidable partnership. 

As well as several releases, Burnley have also sold two crucial members of last season's squad. Nick Pope instantly returned to the top-flight, joining Newcastle United for £10m, and Nathan Collins signed for Wolves for over double Pope's fee.

Wayne Hennessey has also left the club to join Nottingham Forestwhilst Wout Weghorst has gone to Besiktas on loan

All this business has left Burnley with a different-looking team under Kompany, this is how they could line up for their season opener. This team is set up for a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-2-2 formation.

  • Goalkeeper and Defence 

Goalkeeper - Bailey Peacock-Farrell

Pope's departure from Burnley was inevitable after the Englishman impressed season after season for Burnley. The 30-year-old looked a level above Burnley last season, so a return to the top-flight is no surprise.

As for replacing him, Burnley have struggled so far. There were links with Man City's Arijanet Muric, and reports suggest that the deal is now close, however with such little time until the season starts, it is unlikely he would start for the opener if he did sign. Therefore it looks like Peacock-Farrell will start the season in goal for Burnley. 

The Northern-Irish international made 49 appearances on loan last season for Sheffield Wednesday and looked like the natural predecessor for his former teammate under former boss Sean Dyche.

Right-Back - Matt Lowton

The full-back positions have been one of the strongest for Burnley in recent seasons, however, there is some slight contention on who should start at right-back. Matt Lowton and Connor Roberts are two top right-backs, making this choice difficult. 

The vote goes to Lowton though, who has experience on his side, having made 373 appearances in English football. 

Lowton and teammate Taylor have been key figures in pre-season and with changes both at centre-back and in goal, Lowton will provide Kompany with ability, leadership and continuity in the back-line. 

Centre-Back - Taylor Harwood-Bellis

As probably the most changed position under new boss Kompany, centre-back is full of fresh faces and is giving some fans a conundrum on who will start. 

Harwood-Bellis should be the first name on the team sheet this season. He's probably the most talented of the current centre-back crop and will already have a connection with Kompany from the Belgian's time at City. The only negative is it's not a permanent deal. 

Centre-Back - Luke McNally 

McNally is likely to get the second spot over the likes of Egan-Riley and Bobby Thomas due to his consistent minutes and impressive performances in League One last season. 

He is expected to take the setup in level in his stride and should partner Harwood-Bellis. Egan-Riley is only 19 and is more likely to be drip-fed into the squad throughout the season before slotting into the Harwood-Belis spot once his loan ends. 

Academy graduate Thomas is 21 years old and could finally break into the team as Kompany looks for depth in a physically demanding campaign. However, it would most likely be a single-figure number of appearances for Thomas, whilst experienced Long is likely to be a leader in the dressing room rather than on the pitch. 

Left-Back - Charlie Taylor 

Charlie Taylor looked like one of the few who was unlikely to be challenged in his position this season, he has been a consistent performer for Burnley in recent years and is easily Championship quality. However, with the signing of Maatsen on loan, Taylor's spot doesn't look so concrete.

It's a tough one to pick on the left side of the defence this season, but with Taylor having had a full pre-season with his squad and Maatsen needing some time to integrate, Taylor could start against Huddersfield. 

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  • Midfield

Right midfield/Right attacking midfield - Josh Brownhill

Signed by Dyche as an energetic squad player, Brownhill has moulded himself into a competent midfielder. The 26-year-old was a breath of fresh air in the middle of the park when he signed, aged 24, and can continue to provide quality this season.

The Englishman has made 335 career appearances for four sides from League One to the Premier League along with numerous cup competitions, turning out for Preston North End, Barnsley, Bristol City and now Burnley.

With Johann Berg Gudmundsson's injury problems and new signings Bastien and Cullen joining Jack Cork and Ashley Westwood in central midfield, Brownhill could play out wide, where he has featured before under Dyche. 

Central midfield - Jack Cork

This may surprise a few people, but Cork has featured prominently in pre-season and has even held the captain armband in a friendly game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, which can be seen in a clip from Burnley's YouTube video Bastien & Women's Signings, Training & Wolves Workout | PRE-SEASON UNCUT | Week Three. He also wore the armband in their public friendly against Shrewsbury.

The 33-year-old has been with the Clarets, for his second spell, since 2017 and has made 160 first-team appearances for the club. Cork also made 57 appearances in his first spell at Turf Moor, which spanned the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons.

With Tarkowski, Mee and Pope all no longer at the club, Cork is one of the most experienced in the dressing room and is a talented player, coming through Chelsea's academy. His experience in English football and stature within the squad will make him pivotal to Burnley's season. 

Central midfield - Josh Cullen

Cullen was rumoured to be joining Burnley for a while and was on Kompany's radar since he joined the Clarets.

The two have reunited after their time at Anderlecht, where Cullen was an integral part of Kompany's project. The 26-year-old made 80 appearances for the Belgian giants before joining the Clarets.  

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Cullen has plenty of English experience, having turned out for Charlton Athletic, Bradford City, Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United, where he started. 

After featuring against Shrewsbury, it would be no surprise for him to come straight into the starting line-up. 

Left midfield/left attacking midfield - Maxwell Cornet 

Maxwell Cornet has been linked with a move away since the club got relegated, and fans had it as a given for him to leave.

However, the last week has started to swing fan opinions with the revelation that Cornet had travelled to Portugal for the club's final pre-season preparations, giving fans hope.

The Ivorian international has also been in an above-average amount of social media clips and posts from the club this week, leaving some wondering if this is the club's way of confirming his stay.

If he does stay, Cornet could start over Dwight McNeil in a new-look Burnley. McNeil has featured a lot in recent seasons and was one of the first names on the teamsheet under Dyche, but with the new midfield and attacking options arriving, McNeil's minutes won't be guaranteed. 

  • Attackers 

Striker - Scott Twine

It would be hard to see Twine not starting plenty of games this season. He was the Clarets' first summer signing, so he was a top priority for this season. 

Twine scored 20 and assisted 13 in 46 league appearances last season for MK Dons in League One, as well as featuring in the competition's team of the season. 

Naturally, Twine is an attacking midfielder, but he has played as a winger and striker in his career. It wouldn't be surprising if Twine was used as a second striker type, playing as the deeper of the two strikers to feed off the outright number nine. 

Striker - Jay Rodriguez

It could have been either Rodriguez or Barnes in this position, and it is probably one of the most difficult to call as the two could also start together up top. However, both players made less than 30 league appearances last season and missed weeks through injuries, so 46 games each in the Championship, plus cup ties, could be too much.

Therefore one of the two plus Twine could be the way to go for Kompany this season, and Rodriguez gets the vote. He scored seven and assisted two in 33 all competitions, whilst Barnes scored just one in 24.