Burnley boss Vincent Kompany explains why club withdrew loan offer for Andros Townsend

Kompany and Townsend will come up against each other on Friday night when the Hatters visit Turf Moor, but Townsend was close to joining Burnley as a free agent in the summer after impressing on trial at a time when he was returning from 18 months out with a knee injury.

Townsend was offered a short-term deal at the end of his trial, but that offer was then pulled with Kompany keen to ensure he did not stifle the development of younger players – including Luca Koleosho, Wilson Odobert, and Zeki Amdouni – by signing a 32-year-old.

In September Townsend revealed he broke down in tears after the move fell through, having reached the point where he was house hunting in the area and looking at schools for his kids, but in October he signed for Luton and earlier this month agreed a new long-term deal at the club.

Speaking ahead of Friday’s match, Kompany said: “There’s absolutely (no regrets). You have to have regrets if you’re doing things for the wrong reason.

“It’s unfortunate that Luca is injured now but really we just made the choice to support other players.

“In the short term you always have to carry the consequence of that but I have no doubt that Luca will be a good player, I’ve no doubt that Odobert will be a good player…

“These guys have also given us a lot already this season, so if this is the situation we are in, it’s just important to communicate openly with a player. Sometimes there are tough decisions, really tough. But at least it’s been it’s been communicated clearly.”

Kompany said Townsend showed himself to be an “exceptional professional” during his trial with the Clarets, doing enough to earn an opportunity at a time when Burnley had question marks over a number of players through injury and availability.

But things changed when the young players Burnley signed in the summer got up to speed faster than expected.

“In the end I was just extremely honest with him,” Kompany said. “We offered him a contract because we had a short-term need that we thought was going to be there…

“There was a succession of things where we had very few players available. And because of that we offered him a contract and because he did really well.

“But then afterwards when Luca came in and he trained for us with us for one week when Odobert came in, (Jacob) Bruun Larsen was way fitter than we thought he was going to be.

“You know there’s no point in bringing a senior player was working the way he’s working to. To just stall him. I think him having the option to play for Luton is the right option for his career and I explained that to him as well.

“Things always work out for people with his mentality, with the way he works. So he ended up now in a club where hopefully you can still add many years to his career. And I think that was ultimately the goal for him and that’s the good thing for him.”