Leeds United Championship rivals see fresh manager candidate 'gather support'

Craig Bellamy is now reportedly in the running to take over from Vincent Kompany as Burnley's new head coach. Burnley are looking for a new man to take over after seeing Kompany opt to leave Turf Moor in order to take up the reins at Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.

The likes of Frank Lampard and Scott Parker have since been linked with the vacancy with the former said to be willing to discuss the role with the Lancashire outfit. However, according to Alan Nixon, it seems Bellamy's chances of securing the role on a permanent basis could be increasing after being named as acting head coach for the time being.

The Welshman has been on the backroom team at Burnley since arriving at the club as Kompany's assistant in the summer of 2022. Bellamy spent time working under the Belgian at Anderlecht, too, before making the move to the Clarets, and as such, he could be in a strong position to carry on Kompany's work at Turf Moor.

He also has the advantage of knowing the club, the players and the system the squad has been built around and according to the report, he is thought to be a popular choice behind the scenes at Turf Moor. Of course, Bellamy has never held a head coach role, but he is reportedly deemed to be a candidate worth considering by many.

Lampard remains the favourite with the bookmakers for the role, though, at the time of writing, with the former England international looking for his first job since his second spell with Chelsea came to an end last year. The 45-year-old started his managerial career in the Championship with Derby County and took the club to the play-off final before taking over for the first time at Stamford Bridge.

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He has also had a year in charge at Everton, in which he managed to guide the club to Premier League survival. Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, ex-Leeds United coach Carlos Corberan and David Moyes are among the other managers at the top end of the current odds list at present.

Burnley's new manager might have to cope without goalkeeper James Trafford, though, with Kompany being linked with a raid on his old club. Bayern, Liverpool and Newcastle United are being linked by Football Insider with a move for the stopper, who is in contention to make an England debut against Bosnia and Herzegovina this evening, and he could be one set to move on before the start of the Championship campaign.

Trafford joined the Clarets last summer from Manchester City and the report claims the club would be willing to accept a fee of around £20m for the man who kept two clean sheets in 28 Premier League appearances this season. Burnley are thought to be Leeds’ chief rivals in next season’s Championship promotion race at this early point of the summer.