It is now official.
Vincent Kompany is the new manager of Bayern Munich, having signed a contract that will keep him in charge of the club through 2027 as the replacement for the outbound Thomas Tuchel. He leaves Burnley after a rollercoaster of a tenure with the Clarets having won them promotion to the Premier League from the English Football Championship in his maiden season as manager (2022/23) and then getting relegated with them to end this past season. Burnley, Sheffield United, and Luton Town all suffered the unfortunate fate of the drop down to the EFL, but that did not stop Bayern from pursuing the Belgian manager.
Per information from sources close to both Bayern and Burnley, The Athletic (via @iMiaSanMia is reporting that there were a lot of moving parts with Kompany’s transfer to Bayern, and that the club had been in contact with him for longer than meets the eye.
It is no secret that Kompany was not the first name on Bayern’s list. The club had pursued Julian Nagelsmann, Hansi Flick, Ralf Rangnick, and even Roger Schmidt in their efforts to replace Tuchel, but all of the aforementioned managers committed their respective futures elsewhere.
While Bayern might have been monitoring the Belgian’s situation, especially given the connection of having loaned out Joshua Zirkzee to RSC Anderlecht during Kompany’s tenure as manager there, his name did not become a real candidate to take the Bayern job until the past two weeks or so. From the outside looking in, the links to the former Manchester City man seemed to have come out of left field, especially considering his lack of top flight experience against some of the other names Bayern as getting linked with.
Sources close to The Athletic also state that members within Burnley’s staff did not exactly take Kompany’s links with Bayern very seriously. The club had just been relegated to the Championship, coming with massive financial ramifications for a club that had been in England’s top flight for four seasons from 2016-2021 before Kompany came in and guided them to winning the EFL Championship. Given the lack of credentials comparable to that of either Tuchel’s, Nagelsmann’s, or Flick’s, it is safe to assume that Burnley staff members did not think Bayern were really interested in Kompany.
It has also since come out that Bayern did, in fact, consult current Manchester City and former Bayern manager Pep Guardiola in their decision-making process to sign Kompany. The Spaniard managed Kompany at City for three years, collecting multiple pieces of silverware along the way. Guardiola vouched for the Belgian and Bayern were also well aware of the fact that Kompany speaks German in addition to English and other languages, which is a huge plus while not being a mandatory prerequisite.
Most of Bayern’s squad is currently away on international duty as most camps have just started for EURO 2024 preparation and/or prep for World Cup qualifiers or other international tournaments set to take place this summer. It has been suggested that no one from the squad was consulted about hiring Kompany as the new manager and sporting director Christoph Freund has already said it is going to be a busy summer for transfer business.
The time they are a changin’ at Bayern Munich. Vincent Kompany looks like he is taking over in Bavaria, while the club’s former favorite son — Hansi Flick — is heading to FC Barcelona. Which one will make out better with their new club? We’ll find out, but in the meantime, there could also be some Bayern players who are on Flick’s transfer radar, too. basically, we’ve got a lot to talk about with all of that, plus some appreciation for Bayer Leverkusen’s incredible season. You can check all of that out on the Bavarians Podcast Works Show, which is available on Spotify or below: