Kompany lands coup with first piece of Burnley jigsaw to begin 'hard reset'

Burnley completed something of a coup over the weekend, by signing MK Dons' attacker Scott Twine.

The 22-year-old had plenty of suitors but in the end opted for Turf Moor as his next port of call. Last season was a breakthrough one for the Swindon-born product, contributing directly to 33 goals in 50 appearances - with 20 goals, and 13 assists - as the Dons fell at the play-off hurdle.

Despite that, he still did enough to scoop the League One player of the season gong which sparked a scramble for his services from clubs higher up the food chain.

In the end, the Clarets won out and he joins for an estimated fee of £4million but if he can play a part in helping them seal an immediate promotion back to the top flight it will prove a bargain.

Vincent Kompany, who took over earlier this month, is in the process of a hard reset at the Lancashire club following their exit from the top table.

The shot-shy Clarets scored just 34 goals last term. Their top scorer Maxwell Cornet scored just nine but he is highly likely to be moved on as the club adjust their finances and settle into life back in the Championship.

Next in the charts were two players with a measly three goals each: Chris Wood and Ben Mee. Wood left in January whilst Mee exited this summer after 11 years at the club.

Then came a flurry of players on two goals, such as Wout Weghorst - another likely to head for the exit door.

The lack of creativity within the squad will be diminished even further by those impending exits. Twine is the first block in what Kompany will hope is a solid foundation for success.

"We are delighted to have brought Scott to the club," said Kompany. "He's an exciting young player that will help us in the short-term process and in the long-term project at Burnley.

"He's a player we have looked at for a little while now, we know he can score goals and affect games. We're glad to welcome him to the squad."

Twine will certainly be a marked man next season, unlike his status at the beginning of the 2021-22 season.

He only joined the Dons last summer and he was something of an unknown quantity having been loaned out by previous club Swindon. Those temporary stays saw him farmed out to Chippenham (twice), Waterford and Newport before he finally made the breakthrough at Stadium MK.

Some superb goals and ability from dead-ball situations alerted clubs higher up and as soon as MK lost to Wycombe in the play-off semi-finals there was an air of inevitability about his departure. Kompany's task now will be to fill the other gaps in his newly-inherited squad with replacements as exciting as Twine.

The position of goalkeeper needs addressing after Nick Pope's move to Newcastle whilst also of paramount importance are new centre-halves after Ben Mee and James Tarkowski's departures.