The radical plan of Burnley boss Vincent Kompany to tackle Premier League injury crisis

The Belgian believes the radical plan could help tackle the current issue surrounding injuries at the top end of the game.

According to the Daily Mail, nearly 100 players were suffering from injury or were fitness doubts for the latest round of fixtures before the international break.

At this moment in time, Ameen Al-Dakhil, Jordan Beyer, Hjalmar Ekdal, Johann Gudmundsson, Manuel Benson, Nathan Redmond and Michael Obafemi are all out for Burnley through injury.

The likes of Chelsea and Manchester United, meanwhile, have recently been without as many as nine players.

As a possible solution, Kompany has proposed players should be limited to playing 60 or 65 games a season to ensure they don’t become overworked.

“You look at a player that plays in a top side in England at the moment, they finish the season, they go internationals, they go to a tournament or whatever, they come back and they start with some competition in America or something,” he said.

“I can’t give my players two month’s holiday, it just doesn’t work that way especially when we need to be the team that improves the most. That was just common sense for me.

“In terms of the injuries, it’s difficult to say. There is a part of the league, for us it doesn’t apply, where clubs have an enormous amount of international players who are playing all over the world that get very little rest.

“If I look at the position we’re in, I compare it to the Championship last season, it’s pretty okay. We’re alright.

“What I can say is that the intensity of the game has increased. For the players at the very top who are also having to play for their national team and in all these competitions, I think it should just be capped appearances for a player within a season.

“You put a number on it. It’s not for me to put the number, but 60, or 65 games. They have to work hard, don’t get me wrong, but it puts the pressure on coaches a little bit more and national teams to come to a common sense calendar.

“When he has time off, he has time off. Squads are getting bigger, people are getting more game time. Everybody is more happy.”

When it was put to Kompany that it might be difficult to agree upon a number, he said: “You’re not going to keep a player away from finals and important games, you’re not going to do that.

“For if you agree 65-70 games is beyond healthy, that should be the cap and after that you juggle around like you do when you have an injured player.”

Kompany isn’t the only top flight manager to speak out on this issue, with both Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola keen to point out the mental and physical demands that are put on players at the top level of both club and international football.