Vincent Kompany says he needs to prove himself as one of the world’s elite managers before he can be considered a future Manchester City boss.
The former City captain is on the verge of leading Burnley to an immediate return to the Premier League.
Current City boss Pep Guardiola recently said Kompany is destined to manage the club one day.
“I think City should always have the best manager in the world, and that is not me,” said the Belgian, 36.
Kompany will return to the Etihad Stadium for the first time as a manager on 18 March when Championship leaders Burnley visit City in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
He added: “The focus is just on Burnley getting better and we will see. Maybe it only gets shown how far I am from being that guy, but eventually I just work as hard as I can to just get better every single time.”
The former Belgium international, who played for City for more than a decade from 2008, has enjoyed a superb first season at the Clarets, who lead second-placed Sheffield United by 10 points with 11 games left.
While Kompany is relishing the opportunity to test himself against Guardiola, he hopes the former Barcelona midfielder will be at City for many more years to come.
Speaking to The Football News Show, he added: “They have the best manager in the world today and I hope he stays for another 10 years.
“If not, they should have the best manager in the world after Pep. From my side, I am way down the ranking so there isn’t even a second in my thoughts when I am busy with that.
“My goal is I am looking forward to coming up against better managers – I live for that. My biggest strength is that if I fail, I get back up, I come back stronger – and that process is more important for me now.”
Kompany, who managed Anderlecht before taking charge of Burnley last summer following their relegation from the top flight, has impressed with the side he has put together at Turf Moor.
They have lost just two games in the Championship all season and are also 17 points clear of third-placed Middlesbrough.
Should Burnley go on to secure promotion, Kompany will not consider how competitive they will be in the Premier League.
“The honest answer is I won’t know until we are there,” he said.
“When we started the Championship season, I had an idea, but I said at the beginning, you don’t know. It’s a little bit the same with the Premier League if we do get there.
“We are not there yet, we will see.”
Source – BBC Sport
