Brownhill extends: Vincent Kompany will be on cloud nine if these things happen at Burnley | OneFootball

Burnley will be a Championship club once again next season after the Clarets’ relegation from the Premier League was confirmed following a 2-1 defeat away to Tottenham Hotspur.

There was hope, and indeed expectation from many, that the Turf Moor outfit would be able to consolidate in the top flight given the impressive nature that they won promotion as champions of the second tier last term. Vincent Kompany’s side struggled to adapt to the rigours of Premier League football and will be looking to bounce back once again at the first time of asking.

The Clarets achieved promotion from the Championship at a canter, after finishing as top on 101 points, where Kompany's team were by far the dominant side in the division, and looked the likeliest of the promoted sides to maintain their status at English football's top table for many.

They will have to do it all again as they look to achieve promotion at the first time of asking once more and the second tier may not be as easy as last time, when they had the title in the Championship wrapped up for some time.

Burnley have a busy transfer window ahead this summer, with plenty of comings and goings to be expected at Turf Moor. Some of their players will have aspirations of remaining at the highest level, while others will see their contracts coming to an end with the Lancashire side.

Kompany will have a strategy for how he hopes the summer will pan out and will be on cloud nine if these things happen...

Josh Brownhill extends his contract

Josh Brownhill’s future at Burnley has been in the balance for much of the last year, with the 28-year-old holding off signing a new deal with the club to extend his four-year stay at Turf Moor. He has previously proven himself to be a quality operator in the division, even before his time with Burnley, as his career progressed with Bristol City, too.

Having claimed seven goals and eight assists in the side’s promotion campaign, Brownhill has found regular game time to be more elusive since the move into the top flight, with fewer than 25 starts over the course of the campaign, but a drop back down to the Championship could see him thrive once more.

He was outstanding on his return to the second tier last time out, with a series of impressive performances as Burnley topped the 100-point mark for the season, with his eye for a pass and tempo in build up crucial, as well as his box-crashing ability in the final third.

Key players stay at Turf Moor

Burnley have a core of players who once helped them achieve promotion before, and can do so again, if they can retainthe majority of them for another gruelling promotion push. Naturally, relegation brings with it exits, but plenty of the crucial players in 2022/2023 could help Burnley hit the ground running in 2024/25, considering many are well immersed into Kompany's methods and style of play.

The likes of Brownhill will be important in that sense, but there is bound to be interest in other players such as Josh Cullen, Vitinho, and the like, who are proven to be top quality professionals at Championship level. Supplementing that with good young talent already at the club is the recipe for success.

For example, someone like Aaron Ramsey could also benefit from relegation by featuring regularly in the second tier for Burnley, developing rapidly as he did with Middlesbrough two seasons ago. It is vital that the Clarets build on the core that they have and keep them together, as the best sides often start quickly in a league as tough as the Championship.

They replace Ian Maatsen

One of the things Burnley failed to do in the current campaign was to bring in a like-for-like player in the mould of Ian Maatsen, with someone who will attack down the left flank and hug the touchline, as opposed to a more defensive-minded left-back like Charlie Taylor, or a right-footed option such as Vitinho.

The Clarets need an aggressive overlapping width holder down that side and could benefit from Peterborough United’s failure to gain promotion in signing their young captain, Harrison Burrows. He has been an assist machine this year and has plenty of room to develop further, whilst suiting a possession-heavy and attacking team like Kompany's Burnley will be next year.

Burrows may not be at Maatsen’s level in terms of his quality, but not signing a proper replacement cost them last season. Burnley have signed plenty of wingers to replace Nathan Tella’s profile of winger from their promotion-winning campaign but failed to do the same for another of their most pivotal players in the promotion run of 2023 in Maatsen.