VIDEO: JJ Watt & his ‘dirty as sh*t’ hat explain next step for Burnley – with NFL legend reacting to seeing Vincent Kompany leave to manage Harry Kane and Co at Bayern Munich

WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS LANGUAGE THAT SOME PEOPLE MAY FIND OFFENSIVE

The Clarets find themselves in the market for a new manager following the shock of seeing Belgian boss Kompany depart for Germany and the chance to work with Harry Kane and Co at the Allianz Arena. He had overseen promotion into and relegation out of the Premier League during his time at Turf Moor, with the intention being to build on the foundations that he has put in place.

NFL legend Watt, who acquired a stake in Burnley alongside his former USWNT star wife Kealia back in 2023, has said of how things will unfold from here: “I have been transparent about everything so far and I hope you understand why I haven't been able to say anything about this until now that it’s official. Obviously Vincent Kompany has left to become the manager of Bayern Munich and we have already begun the process of finding a new manager here at Burnley. We wish Vince nothing but the best. Like I told him on the call, when Bayern Munich calls, you answer that call 100 times out of 100. I don’t blame him one bit for taking the call and I don’t blame him for taking the opportunity, and wish him nothing but the best – thank him for an unbelievable Championship season, one of the best in history, and hope he has much success moving forward. Obviously this past season didn’t go the way any of us hoped or expected it would, but that’s football. I understand how our supporters are feeling right now. They are wondering what’s next? What does the future hold? We had a process, what does that process look like now? All I can say is that we have already begun working extremely hard to make sure we find the right person to take this project into its next phases. It doesn’t necessarily mean the biggest name, it doesn’t mean anything other than the fact that we want to make sure we find the exact right fit for what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to build at Burnley. We’re going to make sure we ask all the right questions and do all the due diligence necessary to get that right person.”

Watt added on his commitment to aiding that process, having thrown himself into life on the Burnley board: “This hat looks dirty as sh*t because it’s been on my head basically every day since I put it on last March, and it’s going to be on my head for many more days to come in the future. I look forward to those days. I’m just as excited, if not more excited now than I ever have been because right now we have an opportunity to decide who we are going to be moving forward, and than should excite everyone. Step one is getting ourselves back up to the Premier League, and it starts right now. Since 1882, up the Clarets!”

Various names have been linked with Burnley, as former assistant Craig Bellamy is handed the reins on a temporary basis for now, with former Chelsea and Everton boss Frank Lampard the current market leader – ahead of the likes of Bellamy, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Scott Parker and Carlos Corberan.