Though one manager target who has experience in the second division is already in place, this unexpected news need not be devastating for those returning to Turf Moor next season.

Burnley is considering promoting a player

According to journalist Alan Nixon’s Patreon post, the relegated Clarets are considering making a move to sign Steve Cooper, who is still unemployed following his dismissal by Nottingham Forest last season.

The decision to fire him from the City Ground may have been contentious, as the supporters of Forest still held their former Welsh manager in the highest regard. Forest led the team’s ascent back to the first level following several traumatic years spent abandoned in the EFL.

Cooper’s track record as a successful Championship manager with Forest and Swansea City, where he secured two play-off finishes, should put him ahead of the former Chelsea player to succeed Kompany, especially with Frank Lampard also a possibility.

Cooper, who hasn’t been in the thick of things since December of last year, might be fired up after this vacation if Burnley gives him the opportunity to quickly get back to the top of the league for his prospective new employers.

Steve Cooper’s triumph in the Championship

Even though he has never achieved automatic promotion to the Premier League in his managerial career, Burnley’s possession of players with skill like Zeki Amdouni and Sander Berge could make this the easiest assignment of his career so far if everything goes according to plan.

The Welshman has excelled in the past while guiding sides with an underdog attitude, having transformed Forest from mediocrity in the Championship to promotion believers in a flash, alongside catapulting an unfancied Swansea into the playoff mix during his stay.

Winning more than half of his games in charge at the City Ground even saw Cooper be described as a “tremendous” manager by Sam Allardyce, with the Welshman’s growing reputation at Forest once upon a time resulting in his name being linked with the then Crystal Palace vacancy.

He will also be suited to the task of getting the Clarets back up to the Premier League having succeeded with youthful squads in the past, with the 44-year-old highly regarded as England U17s manager where the likes of Phil Foden and Marc Guehi were nurtured under his wing.

For much of their disastrous Premier League season, Burnley used a fairly young starting eleven—under Kompany, they had the second-youngest lineup (23.2) in the league. Cooper might therefore wind up using his charms to make this bunch back down.

Cooper’s preferred 4-3-3 shape might also bring out the best in players like the sidelined Manuel Benson; at Forest, the Welsh manager got the most out of Brennan Johnson and other similarly quick and cunning strikers.