Vincent Kompany, at first glance, certainly does not have the kind of CV that one would expect for a club like Bayern Munich. After all, Kompany’s current club, Burnley, just got relegated from the English Premier League. However, Kompany has landed in Munich, earlier today, and he will sign a deal to become the next manager of the most successful football club in German history.
So why is a club like Bayern Munich hiring the Belgian? It turns out that Pep Guardiola had a role in the process.
Vincent Kompany has landed in Munich [? @SkySport_Ben]
pic.twitter.com/LIGfFUlqME— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) May 29, 2024
Club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge admitted that the Bavarian giants reached out to the Manchester City manager before making their final decision.
Rummenigge told Sky Germany: “Pep Guardiola was also helping us with Kompany, he spoke very highly of Vincent as talented coach. Pep knows Vincent well and his opinion was really appreciated.”
Kompany won the EFL Championship with Burnley in 2022-23, and led Anderlecht to the Belgian Cup runner-up in 2021-22, but his win rate as a manager is still just 43%. Overall, he is light on managerial accomplishments; especially so for a club that has won the UEFA Champions League six times!
However, Kompany is considered a young up-and-comer in the managerial world, and Guardiola thinks very highly of him.
Pep believes that the Man City club legend will someday hold the same position that he currently does.
“He will be back sooner or later,” Guardiola once said, in March of 2023.
“His destiny to be manager of City is already written in the stars. It’s going to happen. I don’t know when but it’s going to happen.”
Vincent Kompany to Bayern Munich is a done deal! It is being finalized right now and we should expect an official announcement rather soon.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.