Inside Vincent Kompany’s world, from failed bar openings to graduating from uni while playing and marrying Man City fan
VINCENT KOMPANY has enjoyed many avenues of success in his life – but also tasted failure.
Away from the pitch, the young manager has ventured into business ownership and advanced education.
Kompany, 38, is in the running to become the new Bayern Munich manager.
The Bundesliga giants have been searching for a replacement for Thomas Tuchel and suffered rejection from multiple names.
The Belgian is now the frontrunner after Bayern agreed a compensation package with Burnley.
Kompany almost never ended up in football having faced difficulty in his childhood.
At 14 he was expelled from school due to his commitments to the Belgian youth team, which then saw him dropped from the team.
In 2019, he admitted that widespread drugs and gangs in his local childhood area could have caused him to choose an “extremely wrong path”.
Kompany got back on track and started his career at Anderlecht before moving to Hamburg and then Manchester City.
He became a legendary figure at the Citizens as he captained the club to four Premier League titles, two FA Cups and four EFL Cups.
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He retired from football at the club and started his managerial career back at boyhood club Anderlecht.
After proving himself in the Jupiler Pro League, he earned a move to Championship side Burnley.
He led the Clarets to an immediate return to the Premier League in 2023, playing exciting football that earned plenty of plaudits.
He splashed the cash in an attempt to keep the club in the top-flight but was unable to avoid the drop.
Kompany’s life has not all been focused on football.
He graduated with an MBA from Manchester Business School in business administration in 2018.
It was achieved by putting in hours of study – all at the same time as captaining a Premier League team to trophies.
Vincent Kompany's career
Vincent Kompany enjoyed a successful playing career before becoming a manager.
Playing Career:
Anderlecht
- Appearances: 121
- Goals: 7
- Honours: Belgian First Division x2
Hamburg
- Appearances: 51
- Goals: 4
- Honours: Uefa Intertoto Cup, 2007
Manchester City
- Appearances: 360
- Goals: 20
- Honours: Premier League x4, FA Cup x2, EFL Cup x4
Belgium
- Caps: 89
- Goals: 4
Managerial career:
Anderlecht
- Games: 90
- PPG: 1.70
Burnley
- Games: 96
- PPG: 1.53
- Honours: Championship, 2023
Often described as eloquent, he can speak multiple languages including German, English as well as some Spanish and Italian.
Kompany married during his time at Manchester City to local Carla Higgs in 2011.
Carla is a lifelong fan of the club and the couple have children Sienna, 13, and Kai, 10.
Not everything Kompany has got involved with has enjoyed great success.
In 2014, he opened two sports bars in Belgium called ‘Good Kompany’.
However, they both closed down within a year as Kompany admitted that the turnover was not enough to cover costs.
At the time, he said: “I regret this decision.
“We had enough customers, turnover was good, but not enough to cover the costs. So that’s where it ends.
“Lesson one in business: investments are always a risk.
‘You win some, you lose some.”
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