Captain Vincent Kompany to Depart Manchester City After 11 Years

After 11 exhilarating years in the blue half of Manchester, Vincent Kompany will depart the Etihad for pastures new.

Within 24 hours of lifting the FA Cup trophy at Wembley, Kompany announced his departure from Manchester City in an open letter on Facebook. The wave of tributes and emotion on social media indicates just what an impact the defender has had, not only in Manchester, but to English football in general.

Since joining the Citizens from Hamburg as a 22 year old, Kompany has made 360 appearances, spending 8 of those seasons as captain. The Belgian’s arrival in 2008 coincided with Sheikh Mansour’s takeover of the Mancunian club, which kick started the City Revolution. As captain, Kompany lifted an unprecedented 4 league titles under 3 different managers, including the famous 2011/12 win- the first league title in City’s history since 1968.

A Classy Centre Back, and a Classy Captain

The 33 year old made a name for himself early on as one of City’s best bargain buys in an era of unprecedented spending under Mansour’s ownership. As City struggled in the early years to establish itself as a genuine new threat, Kompany’s star grew- culminating in his appointment as captain ahead of that season. The classy centre back was instrumental in City’s race to the title, being named player of the season in 2012 after lifting the Premier League trophy. Since then, he has gone on to lift 11 more major honours as City captain, alongside captaining Belgium to a 3rd place finish in last years world cup in a distinguished career.

https://twitter.com/ManCityUS/status/1130247446460850177

However, injuries have often blighted Kompany’s stop start career, suffering a series of debilitating muscle ailments and numerous other complaints that have somewhat stunted his impact. Whilst a key contributor in parts throughout this season (including a worldie against Leicester which all but sealed the title), more injuries limited him to just 17 appearances in the league. Whilst his career honours list is nothing to be sniffed at, the question remains how much more City could have achieved with an injury free Kompany. After all, he was arguably the best defender in England in his prime.

What Next for Captain Kompany?

In a second part to his farewell letter, Kompany revealed that he will be returning to boyhood club Anderlecht next season as player-manager. Having begun his career at one of Belgium’s most storied clubs, he will return home and presumably end his playing career there too, having signed a 3 year deal. The move presents an intriguing new challenge for a tactically astute and classy player, who has often stated his affection for his boyhood club.