Vincent Kompany undaunted by shock leap from Burnley to Bayern Munich
Vincent Kompany is already backing himself to succeed at Bayern Munich, having been unveiled by the German giants on Thursday following his surprise recent appointment.
Although one of the standout players of his generation, captaining Manchester City to multiple Premier League titles, Kompany’s coaching career is still in its relative infancy. He earned plaudits in 2022/23 for taking Burnley into the Premier League, but this season finished in relegation.
The Clarets had handed Kompany over £100m of new signings with which to attack the top flight, yet they won only twice against teams who hadn’t come up with them from the Championship and the whole club, including the boss, was accused of naivety in their approach.
That’s why the football world was stunned when Bayern turned to Kompany after a series of other rejections and, within a matter of days, had wrapped up a deal for the 38-year-old. This is a Bayern who have lost their stranglehold on the Bundesliga and desperately want it back.
„My mentality is that I never haven’t worked for a top club in my head,“ Kompany said as he addressed media for the first time, flanked by chief executive Jan-Christian Dreese and Max Eberl, board member of the sport.
„A top club is the environment you create. It’s the mentality you have towards your job in good and bad times, that’s what defines working at the top level. It already feels like home.“
Kompany signed a new five-year contract with Burnley upon securing promotion a year ago and insists he wasn’t actively looking for other opportunities when Bayern got in touch.
„When Max [Eberl] and Christoph [Freund, sporting director] called and eventually we spoke and met, I didn’t have a plan in my head to do anything. I was just doing my job,“ he said.
„I was actually quite fortunate to have a lot of interest from a number of other clubs as well. But I never went looking for anything. I wasn’t interested in anything. I was happy to meet people and I met good people. That was my decision. The players, the people inside the club, we see the same thing and understand the same thing but also the values and what we believe in.“