Manchester United legend Jaap Stam backs Burnley boss for international role as Belgium face crunch World Cup clash with Croatia

The three-time Premier League winner, who won the treble under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1998/99, is confident that managing at international level is part of Kompany’s natural trajectory.

Sean Dyche’s successor at Turf Moor, who landed the Championship Manager of the Month award for October, has gained valuable experience in the embryonic stages of his managerial career, taking the Clarets to the top of England’s second tier having got a couple of campaigns under his belt in his homeland with Anderlecht.

Speaking from one Red Devil to another, the ex-PSV Eindhoven, Lazio and AC Milan centre back said: “Eventually, I can see Vincent Kompany becoming Belgium's manager because he's been doing well.

"He's gone into management the right way because you need to learn at different levels and work with different players to eventually manage the national team.

"What's doing now with Burnley is good and if he keeps going then I'm sure he can also make the next step to the Premier League.”

Belgium, who finished third with Kompany as their captain in 2018, face a premature exit from the tournament in Qatar as they sit third heading into their final game in Group F.

After narrowly beating Canada and suffering a shock defeat to Morocco, they now face a showdown with Croatia at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium.

Stam continued: “Roberto Martinez is a very good manager, he has a philosophy and knows how he wants to play football.

"Belgium have several older players now and they need to switch things up and bring in some young, quality players if they're available.

"On paper, they have an interesting team, but on the pitch, they're not good enough.”