Vincent Kompany

Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (French pronunciation: [vɛ̃sɑ̃ kɔ̃pani]; born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. In his career as a player, in which he played as a centre-back, Kompany is best known for his eleven seasons at Manchester City, eight of which he served as captain. He also represented the Belgium national team for fifteen years and served as its captain.

Kompany began his professional career at Anderlecht; having graduated from their youth system, he was with the club for three seasons as a first-team player before moving to Bundesliga club Hamburg in 2006. In the summer of 2008, he completed a transfer to Premier League club Manchester City, where he was an integral part of the squad and regarded as one of the bargain buys of the revolutionised City era, blossoming into one of the league's best centre-backs. In the 2011–12 season, he was awarded the captaincy of City, leading his club to win the Premier League that season, their first league title in 44 years. Kompany was included in the Premier League Team of the Year in 2011, 2012, and 2014, and won the Premier League Player of the Season in 2012. Kompany won eleven more trophies at City and made 360 total appearances.

Kompany earned 89 caps for Belgium in a 15-year international career, having made his debut in 2004 at age 17. He was part of their squad that came fourth at the 2008 Olympics and went to the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018, coming a best-ever third at the latter. He served as captain from 2010.

In 2019, when his contract expired after eleven years at City, Kompany returned to Anderlecht as player-manager. A year later, he announced his retirement from professional football and became the first-team manager. In 2022, he was hired by Burnley. There, he won the EFL Championship in his first season, but relegated from the Premier League the following season. He was appointed by Bayern Munich in 2024 following the departure of Thomas Tuchel and won the 2024–25 Bundesliga in his first season at the club, followed by a domestic treble in his second season.