Vincent Kompany revealed it was always his intention to ease Michael Obafemi gently into life at Burnley amid concerns over the forward's lack of regular game-time since joining from Swansea City.
The striker sealed a loan switch to Turf Moor in January for the remainder of the 2022/23 season, although his move is now expected to be made permanent in the summer following the Lancashire outfit's promotion into the Premier League.
Republic of Ireland international Obafemi has not started a single league game for the Clarets, with all 12 of his Championship outings to date coming as a substitute.
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But head coach Kompany admits he has been eager not to overuse Obafemi given the 22-year-old's injury record.
“It’s always been our intention to ease him in. I think that’s where he’s at, at the moment," the Belgian told our sister title LancsLive.
"But what he’s always got is he’s a little bit in his own profile, a little bit of that [Manuel] Benson-esque type of thing where he doesn’t need that much time to have an impact.
“You can see the threat he’s got in those moments but in order to play 90 minutes at the intensity and the tempo we play at, he’s certainly on his way, but I always feel at the moment there is some other guys that are a little bit further and so we’re not going to force anything because you run the risk of injuries then.”
Obafemi has netted two goals in his 14 appearances for Burnley.
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