Burnley boss Vincent Kompany pays touching tribute to Manchester City legend Francis Lee

Kompany’s former club revealed on Monday that Lee had passed away following a battle with cancer.

The former striker also played for Bolton Wanderers and Derby County during a 17-year career, scoring more than 200 career league goals.

He also scored 10 times in 27 appearances for England and later went on to serve as Man City chairman during the mid-1990s.

Kompany came across Lee on plenty of occasions during his 11-year spell with City.

“Saddened to hear of the passing of Francis Lee today, aged 79,” Kompany wrote on X, the website formerly known as Twitter.

"I had the honour of meeting him and speaking to him on more than a few occasions and will cherish these moments.

"I would like to express my sincere condolences to the entire family and to all his loved ones. RIP.”

Lee started his career at Bolton, scoring 92 goals in 182 games, before moving to City for a then club-record £60k.

He went on to help the club win the First Division title in 1968, as well an FA Cup (1969) and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1970.

He was City's top scorer for five consecutive seasons from 1969/70 to 1973/74, winning the club's player of the year award in 1970 and the 1971 Golden Boot award.

Lee would move to Derby in 1974 and help the club to win the First Division title that year, scoring 12 goals in the process – including the winner against City.

A City statement on Monday read: "Franny passed away in the early hours of this morning after a long battle with cancer. His wife Gill and children Charlotte, Jonny and Nik say he will be sorely missed and would like to thank everyone for their kind words.

"Everyone at Manchester City would like to send their condolences to the friends and family of Francis at this very difficult time.

"As a mark of respect, flags around the Etihad Stadium and City Football Academy are flying at half-mast."