"Nothing lasts forever" - Vincent Kompany on Burnley 'icon' Ashley Barnes

Ashley Barnes might bring the curtain down on his Burnley career as a champion, just as boss Vincent Kompany did with Manchester City.

The Clarets' manager concluded an 11-year stay at the Etihad with a domestic treble after making more than 350 appearances for the club in all competitions.

The ex-Belgium international can appreciate the sentiment and sadness as a chapter comes to a close, with Burnley's longest-serving player all-but confirming that the end is nigh in a post-match interview with Sky.

It will be the end of an era for the club's loveable rogue, who matched Michael Duff's trio of promotions on Good Friday when scoring in a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough.

In reference to Barnes, who is out of contract in the summer, Kompany said: “I’ve been there before, nothing lasts forever unfortunately. I’ve been through the very same as what he’s experiencing now, but it’ll be the best time of his life, though he doesn't know it yet.

“I think he knows now, but it’ll be the best time of his life. There’s no better way, this is the performance, the fans, the recognition. Imagine if it would have been last year, so I think this is how it is but in the end, it’ll be the best time of his life.”

The 33-year-old former Brighton and Hove Albion striker, who arrived at Turf Moor as Sean Dyche's first cash signing in January 2014, has played 286 times for Burnley across the board and netted his 50th league goal for the club at the Riverside.

The striker scored the opening goal against Wigan Athletic in 2014 to seal promotion to the Premier League for the first time under Dyche, and he mirrored that contribution on Teeside when diverting Josh Brownhill's strike past Zack Steffen in the 12th minute.

Barnes has seen and done it all at Burnley, scoring against the recognised "Big Six" in the top flight, and extending the club's dominance over rivals Blackburn Rovers with a brace in November.

Kompany feels Barnes will go down as a club legend, without any shadow of a doubt. He said: "He's a club legend, there's no other way about it.

"To be an icon you have to have longevity and he's done that, you have to show resilience in difficult moments, bouncing back and getting back up.

"I'll always remember the Sunderland away game this season when everyone wrote him off and he was dead and buried.

"A couple of weeks later he scored the two goals against Blackburn and he was a hero again. He scored the goal today, so he's a hero again and that's life.

"That's what fans can get behind; it's like the Rocky story, you fall and get back up. I realise what players like Ashley Barnes mean to the club, I can see them enjoying it, so I'm happy for him."