Dundee United have handed an extended trial to Francois Kompany, the brother of Manchester City and Belgium captain Vincent.
At 28, three years younger than his more famous sibling, Kompany is a defender who can operate at centre-half or left-back.
He turned out as a trialist for the U/20s in their Development League defeat against St Mirren on Tuesday and is set for another runout at that level when Hearts provide the opposition next week.
And gaffer Ray McKinnon has liked what he’s seen of him so far.
“He’s a decent player with good experience and I liked what I saw of him on Tuesday and while he’s been training with us this week,” he said.
“He is lacking a bit when it comes to match fitness but he’s going to stay on next week so he can put a bit of work in and we can have a look at him in another game.”
Formerly part of the youth set up at Mechelen in his home country, Kompany had a spell with Macclesfield Town before returning to Belgium, where he’s had spells with a string of lower league sides.
Most recently, he was with second-tier outfit KSV Roeselare, though he left there earlier this year and is available as a free agent.
Ironically, while the Tangerines are short on experienced defenders for today’s Irn-Bru Cup clash with Linfield at Tannadice, the fact Ray McKinnon is usually well covered in that area of the park could hamper Kompany’s chances of getting a permanent deal.
The manager had hoped Tam Scobbie, Lewis Toshney and Paul Quinn would be able to return from fitness problems for this tie but that’s not going to happen.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.