Exclusive: Vincent Kompany to Man City update as number one choice revealed
Vincent Kompany is Man City’s number one target to replace Pep Guardiola, sources have told Football Inisder.
There is a growing sense within Premier League circles that the Spaniard, 55, will leave after a decade in charge at the end of the season.
City have started to plan for the possibility of his departure by holding preliminary talks with potential managerial replacements.
Enzo Maresca, who worked at City as Guardiola’s assistant, informed Chelsea that he had spoken to representatives of City and Juventus before being sacked by the London club last month.
Xabi Alonso will also be of strong interest to the Premier League giants following his departure from Real Madrid.
But Kompany is said by sources to be City’s first choice, although luring him from Bayern Munich may be an almost impossible task.
One factor in their favour is Kompany’s strong emotional attachment to the club he skippered to multiple trophies during the best days of his playing career.
How does Vincent Kompany’s record compare to Pep Guardiola’s?
Guardiola’s future at Manchester City has been under heavy scrutiny in recent months, as it has begun to look increasingly likely that the all-conquering boss could leave at the end of the season.
The Spaniard has helped to transform the Citizens into a powerhouse of both the Premier League and world football, and City will be desperate to secure a big-name boss to step into his shoes if he does depart.
They have already fixed their eyes firmly on Kompany, who made over 350 appearances for City during his playing career, and won the Bundesliga title in his first season in charge of Bayern Munich last term.
The Belgian led Burnley to promotion to the Premier League in his first managerial job, and his work at Turf Moor was enough to land him the Bayern role, despite his team being immediately relegated back to the second tier.
| Manager | Games | W | D | L | Win % |
| Guardiola | 102 | 82 | 11 | 9 | 80.39% |
| Kompany | 54 | 41 | 10 | 3 | 75.93% |
Winning the league is the minimum expectation for any Bayern manager, but Kompany’s record is not far behind that of Guardiola from his previous stint in Germany.
City’s current boss ended his time at Bayern with a win percentage of 80 per cent, while Kompany is only trailing narrowly behind on 75 per cent at the moment.
Oscar Bobb ‘burned bridges’ with Pep Guardiola before Man City exit
Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson recently told Football Insider that Oscar Bobb “burned bridges” with Guardiola before he completed his move to Fulham in the January window.
City ultimately netted a fee of £27million for the Norwegian, who had failed to kick on after a series of significant injuries in recent years.
Borson feels that there was an issue of sorts between the youngster and the boss, and that Guardiola rarely allows these kinds of problems to grow any further.
Bobb has been at City since early in his youth career, and the switch to Craven Cottage represents his first move in professional football.