Bayern’s search over: Vincent Kompany is new head coach

For Kompany, this is only his third coaching position after Anderlecht and Burnley. The 38-year-old Belgian, who made 89 international appearances in his professional career, has signed a contract with the Munich club that runs until June 2027.

Kompany will succeed Thomas Tuchel, whose departure from Bayern was already certain in February. The former central defender, who played for Anderlecht, Hamburger SV and Manchester City, cannot be described as a dream solution. After the announced separation from Tuchel, Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso and national coaches Julian Nagelsmann (Germany) and Ralf Rangnick (Austria) turned down the offer. An attempt to sign former Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner failed, as did that of Benfica coach Roger Schmidt. Most recently, efforts to keep Tuchel on were also unsuccessful.

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Kompany does not have the best sporting record: before moving to Burnley, he had led Anderlecht to third place twice. Although he managed to gain a comfortable promotion to the Premier League with the English team, they were immediately relegated. With 24 points, Burnley finished second to last. However, Kompany received a lot of praise for the way the underdog played.

“Fits very well with the identity of FC Bayern”

“Vincent Kompany is a type of coach who fits very well with FC Bayern’s playing philosophy and identity: His teams want the ball, want to play dominant football with high intensity. He is a young, very ambitious coach who brings a lot of international experience, has his finger on the pulse of the players and knows exactly what should happen on the pitch,” said Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund about the new man on the sidelines.

Kompany was looking forward to the challenge, saying it was a great honour to work for this club. “FC Bayern is an institution in international football. As a coach, you have to stand for who you are as a person: I love having the ball, being creative – and we also have to be aggressive on the pitch and courageous. I’m now looking forward to the most basic things: working with the players, building a team. When the foundation is in place, success will follow.”