Pep Guardiola backs Vincent Kompany to succeed at Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich have finally finished the search for a new head coach. The Bavarian club agreed a deal with Burnley for Vincent Kompany on Saturday. Kompany will sign a three-year contract with Bayern next week. The Belgian coach emerged as Die Roten’s top choice after Thomas Tuchel couldn’t reach an agreement with the club to stay for one more season.

After agreeing to part ways with Tuchel at the end of the season, Bayern explored deals for five coaches before trying to convince Tuchel to stay for one more season. Eventually, they identified Kompany as the man to replace Tuchel in the last seven days.

Kompany enjoyed a successful season at Burnley when they got promoted to the Premier League with 101 points in the Championship. However, this season was disappointing for the English club. They got relegated from the Premier League after finishing 19th in the points table.

Despite Burnley’s struggles, Kompany has been rated as one of the best young coaches in Europe. While talking to the media on Friday, Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola backed Kompany to succeed at Bayern.

"I'm happy with the link between Bayern and Vinnie (Kompany). I have a huge opinion of Vinnie, doesn't matter if he got relegated with Burnley. I have the highest opinion about his work, his personality, knowledge of the game, the way he handles the media. I would love Bayern to take the best decision - they deserve it. I love that club. I'm in love with Bayern Munich for many, many reasons - especially the people there."

- Pep Guardiola

Guardiola coached Kompany for a couple of seasons at Bayern. The Belgian defender excelled under Guardiola before leaving for his boyhood club Anderlecht in 2019. He worked in a player-coach capacity at the Belgian club before moving to Burnley in 2022.

Kompany implemented an expansive style of football at Burnley. They played out from back with ease and looked to dominate teams in possession. This approach helped Burnley to dominate in the Championship, but they couldn’t achieve the same results in the Premier League.

Appointing Kompany as the new head coach is a big gamble for Bayern. They must show patience with the Belgian coach since he may face a few bumps before tasting success in Bavaria. Die Roten didn’t stick with Nagelsmann when going got tough. They cannot afford to make the same mistake with Kompany. The Bavarian faithful want to see stability at the club after seeing several coaches having short stints since the departure of Pep Guardiola in 2016.

Bayern will look to announce Kompany’s arrival next week. Max Eberl and Christoph Freund will start working on transfers. Die Roten are expected to make several changes to the squad in the summer after the trophyless campaign. They are expected to make tough decisions on the futures of a few senior players. Kompany will have a big say in the squad building in the summer.