Exclusive: Vincent Kompany hails NFL great JJ Watt for showing 'real leadership' during time at Burnley

Vincent Kompany has described NFL great JJ Watt as being "one of a kind" and praised his "real leadership" during his time at Burnley.

Watt and his wife Kealia, who represented the United States Women's National football team, invested in Burnley in May 2023 and have constantly been active in promoting the club on a global scale.

The pair attended Turf Moor to watch Burnley lift the Championship trophy at the end of last season, and the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year also said he had been on a pub crawl on his way to the stadium to immerse himself with the supporters.

Watt has also been active on social media with his opinions and even criticised a handball decision that went against Burnley in their 3-2 defeat at Aston Villa last month.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with TNT Sports, Kompany said Watt brings "value" to the club and was full of praise for his leadership skills.

"I think what I’m most happy of for the club is that he’s real leadership," he said. "It’s not plastic leadership where people will say the right things and everything but they’re not able to live by it. He’s real one of a kind type of leadership, real leader material.

"To have people like him and he could be an NFL player or from any other industry in the world, but just to have characters like him in and around the place is something that is of such value.

"Any time I have the opportunity, I tap into that as well but it shows the type of club that Burnley is. Hopefully on top of what we represent locally with the Burnley community which everybody knows that this club is like going to church for people in this town.

"On top of that, I hope that people can see that they can associate with other guys with good values and feel like: ‘You know what, we get behind these guys because they’re the ones that we think represent us’."

Kompany added that he was proud that the club's values shone through when helping Burnley striker Lyle Foster deal with his mental well-being.

Burnley announced in November that the 23-year-old was taking a break from football and was in the care of specialists.

The striker returned to first-team action last month and provided an assist in Burnley's 2-0 win at Fulham before scoring in their defeat at Villa.

Kompany said he was delighted for the way the club reacted to the situation and hopes their honesty will encourage other to seek help.

"I look back at it and I’m proud of the way people at the club way beyond me but people within the club have reacted and responded to what was ultimately the need to help a young person, to get through something tough in his life," he explained.

"Every single person at the club has responded with only one idea and that’s to do what’s right by the player to the detriment to some of the short-term goals we have but we believe that if we act the right way, eventually you grow something bigger.

"That was good to see. The really tough part of it is that it’s a really difficult issue to explain to the wider public. Not everyone is at a level yet where they’re able to accept what’s going on and that’s difficult. You’re dealing with people who don’t understand the steps you have to take before you can reintegrate someone into the entirety of his functions.

"You’ve got things that are confusing at times but I’m so very happy I can be open about it because Lyle allowed me to and I hope that by doing so, we’re also helping other people who might be feeling that it’s difficult to bring it across to the wider public."

Burnley will be looking to claim their fourth win of the Premier League campaign when they welcome Luton Town at Turf Moor on Friday, live on TNT Sports.

The Clarets claimed their first league win of the season at Kenilworth Road in October and can move within a point of them with a victory.

Burnley took four points from their two matches against Luton in the Championship last season and Kompany is wary of the threat Rob Edwards' side can pose.

"I think both teams have done everything they can to improve the squads," he said. "Not because we didn’t like the squads we had last season but because the Premier League is an absolute different beast and you can see.

"In terms of what they’ve improved, they’re a team that has got players that can do it on both sides of the game, to work hard and defend and they’re able to be threatening on their own moments.

"It’s also the type of challenge that we look forward to and they were tough games last season and it’ll be a tough game now but we’ll embrace it."

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