Vincent Kompany is close to becoming the new head coach of Bayern Munich. The Belgian coach arrived in Munich on Wednesday to complete the paperwork. Kompany will sign a three-year contract before talking to the media in a press conference.
It has been a long search for the successor of Thomas Tuchel. After a run of three defeats across all competitions in February, Bayern announced Tuchel’s departure at the end of the season. The Bavarian club started talking to their top targets after Max Eberl was appointed director of sport at the board level in March.
Bayern had identified Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso as their top target to replace Tuchel. However, Alonso rebuffed interest from Die Roten and Liverpool to stay at Leverkusen. After Alonso decided to stay in Leverkusen, Bayern tried to get Julian Nagelsmann, Ralf Rangnick, and Oliver Glasner. However, all three coaches couldn’t seal a move to Bavaria for different reasons.
Hansi Flick was also briefly discussed at Bayern before Eberl and Freund tried to convince Tuchel to do a U-turn and stay at the club for a season. The German coach decided to leave after failing to reach an agreement to extend his stay. Bayern started working on a deal for Vincent Kompany last week. While talking to Sky Sports, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge revealed that Bayern also took the help of Pep Guardiola to complete a deal for Vincent Kompany.
"It was Guardiola who recommended the choice. He did us a great favour. He had him as captain at City and also followed him when he was at Burnley. Pep knows Vincent well and his opinion is very highly regarded by us."Karl-
Guardiola publicly backed Kompany to succeed at Bayern last week. The Spaniard also believes that Kompany will one day return to manage Manchester City. Kompany and Guardiola enjoyed success at Manchester City for three years before the Belgian defender left to join Anderlecht in 2019.
Kompany’s coaching philosophy has been heavily influenced by Guardiola. The Belgian coach implemented an expansive style of football at Burnley, which saw them win the Championship with 101 points during the 2022/23 campaign.
However, the Belgian coach struggled to get results with the same style in the Premier League. Burnley were relegated from the Premier League after finishing 19th in the points table. Bayern are counting on Kompany to succeed with better personnel next season. It will be intriguing to see how the Belgian coach manages the dressing room full of stars at Bayern.
Kompany is accustomed to the Bundesliga from his playing days at Hamburg. Bayern didn't get their first-choice target, but Kompany is an intriguing and brave appointment. They will have to give him time to get things right and help Bayern enjoy success in Germany and Europe.