Breakthrough season is key for Nathan Tella's development, says Burnley boss Vincent Kompany

Prior to his summer arrival at Turf Moor, the Southampton ace had just two goals as a professional to his name.

Now, with 37 appearances for the Clarets under his belt, the 23-year-old is the club's leading scorer with 14 goals in all competitions.

The former Arsenal academy star is also the division's sixth most potent marksman, behind Millwall pair Tom Bradshaw and Zian Flemming (13), Luton Town's Carlton Morris (14), Coventry City's Viktor Gyökeres (17) and Middlesbrough's Chuba Akpom (21).

Reflecting on the value and importance of having a 'reflection' season at such a young age, Kompany said: “Every player needs that one reference season because it lasts for a while.

"I remember early on in my career at 17 and 18, I have two reference seasons where I had kind of proven I could play at a very good level and then it took me three or four years to get back to having a good season.

“What I mean by that is once you’ve done it, you never doubt that it’s going to come back because you’ve done it before and a lot of players now arrive to the age of 24 or 25 and you look back and there’s not one reference season, there’s not one season where they can go back to and say ‘when I play consistent, this is what I’m able to do’.

“For Tella, this one is in the bag now almost and the exciting part is he can finish strongly and put the bar even higher and that’s what I hope he’ll get before the end of the season.”