BURNLEY manager Vincent Kompany admitted it is unlikely Championship clubs could afford to permanently keep players like on-loan Nathan Tella, but insisted he and others would be happy to stay at Turf Moor “for 10 years”.

Tella has been enjoying his loan spell with the second division outfit, scoring three goals in his first eight league appearances under Kompany.

Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl let Tella leave on a temporary basis after battling injury over the last two seasons and seeing the 23-year-old’s progress stunted as a result.

Kompany, who currently has the Lancashire outfit fourth in the Championship after 10 matches, was asked about the importance of loan deals to – after also enjoying Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ and Ian Maatsen’s impacts (Manchester City and Chelsea).

"The reason why these loan signings can be important is because most teams in the Championship cannot afford Nathan Tella or Taylor on a permanent," Kompany explained, via Lancashire Live.

"So you substitute the long term a little bit for the short term but as you have seen when it is the right talent, it makes the team stronger.

"You use the loan market well and you can find players who can make other players around them better as well, but in general, what I like about these types of players is they keep improving during the season because of their age, so you have to expect they will have ups and downs in a season, that's what happens with younger players.

"But at the end of the season I hope we have an even better version of these guys and the team can grow around them,” the Belgian continued.

“You don't usually have a team which is only experience, you want a nice balance and it is a good perspective for us to grow during the season.

"We’re helping well with Nathan but it's fair game, they give us something in the short term and they buy into the club as well, which is important.

"I do want to state that, the players that are here, not for one second would I allow any of the players to come here and treat it as a loan club, they are Burnley players.

“In their minds, I'm sure they think they could be here for 10 years and are really happy here, but okay, if the financials don't work out, it's more important we help them as members of the squad to perform. They have to be good to play as well."

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