Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Bundesliga club Bayern Munich.

He made his professional debut on 30 July 2003 in a UEFA Champions League second qualifying round first leg away to Rapid București, starting in a goalless draw.

[9] In late 2003, Kompany was a target for Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson to cover the long-term suspension of defender Rio Ferdinand.

[11] On 9 June 2006 it was announced that Kompany had been acquired by Hamburger SV for a fee of €10 million, as a replacement for fellow Belgian Daniel Van Buyten.

[14] Kompany scored on 29 July 2007 in a 4–0 win (5–1 aggregate) over Moldova's Dacia Chișinău in the last round of the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

[17] On 22 August 2008, Premier League club Manchester City signed Kompany from Hamburg on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

On 25 April, Kompany again continued to captain the side in the absence of striker Carlos Tevez against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, playing the full 90 minutes alongside Lescott in a 1–0 victory.

[28] At the end of the 2010–11 season, in which City qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time, manager Roberto Mancini praised Kompany as "incredible", and called him one of the top defenders in Europe, with the potential to be number one in the world.

[33] The opening fixture on 7 August 2011 was the Community Shield, which ended in a 3–2 defeat to rivals Manchester United despite City holding a two-goal lead at half-time.

[39] Kompany played in that final, but had missed part of the league campaign due to injury, with Mancini citing his absence as a major factor in the failure to retain the title.

[41] On 11 May, he scored Manchester City's second goal in a 2–0 win against West Ham United as the club won the 2013–14 Premier League title.

[42] During 2014–15, Kompany accumulated 33 appearances in all competitions, but the club could only finish runners-up in the league and were eliminated from the domestic and continental cups at early stages, also losing out in the Community Shield.

[51] At that time, an analysis showed that he had suffered 37 injuries since joining Manchester City in 2008 and had missed over two years (878 days) in that eight-year period.

Manager Pep Guardiola kept Kompany in the team for the FA Cup semi-final, and he played the entirety of the match which went to extra time; City lost the tie to eventual winners Arsenal,[52] finishing 2016–17 without a trophy.

Kompany appeared just 15 times during the campaign, although his continued importance to the team was evidenced by the fact he would always return to the starting line-up as soon as he was fit.

Kompany played in eight league matches for Manchester City during the first portion of 2017–18, suffering further strains during the period,[53][54][55] before withdrawing minutes into an away fixture against Newcastle on 27 December;[56] Guardiola's responses in the press conferences suggested he was losing patience with the situation.

[55][57][58] He returned to the team on 3 February 2018, completing the 90 minutes of a 1–1 draw away to Burnley while Aymeric Laporte, the club's new record signing in the same position, remained on the bench throughout.

[59] On 25 February, he scored Manchester City's second goal of a 3–0 victory over Arsenal in the 2018 EFL Cup Final, and was named man of the match.

[62] The result put the club one point ahead at the top of the 2018–19 Premier League table, and they retained the title by the same margin six days later.

He played the whole of the 2019 FA Cup Final, a 6–0 victory over Watford, as the club completed an unprecedented domestic treble[63] (plus the Community Shield).

[66] With two defeats, two goalless draws, six goals conceded and three scored, the Brussels-based club had endured their worst opening start to a league campaign since the 1998–99 season.

[71] He did not take the flight back, allegedly due to a lost passport, and Hamburg demanded that FIFA take action against the Royal Belgian Football Association.

Before the friendly match with Qatar, Kompany received permission to attend his grandmother's funeral as long as he returned to the team hotel before 6 pm that evening.

[74] On 19 May 2010, Kompany captained Belgium for the first time and scored his first international goal in the 90th minute for a 2–1 friendly win over Bulgaria at the King Baudouin Stadium.

[75] After 34 minutes of Belgium's 2–1 World Cup qualifier win against Serbia in June 2013, Kompany suffered concussion and facial injuries, including a broken nose and cracked eye-socket, in a collision with goalkeeper Vladimir Stojković.

[49] At the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Kompany featured in five of his nation's seven matches, playing every minute in the knockout phase as they advanced to the semi-finals before losing to eventual champions France, overcoming England to finish third, their highest ever placing in the competition.

[79] Kompany was described as one of the best defenders in world football,[5] and in the history of the Premier League;[80][81] he was recognised to be an intelligent and physically strong centre back, with excellent aerial ability, mobility, and leadership qualities, as well as good technique and distribution.

[101] On Kompany's debut as a Premier League manager on 11 August 2023, his side lost 3–0 at home to reigning champions Manchester City.

[103] On 30 March 2024, Kompany was sent off for protesting against the referee Darren England over awarding the home side the penalty after Lorenz Assignon was sent off for fouling Mykhailo Mudryk in their 2-2 draw against Chelsea.

[111] Bayern had won no trophies in the preceding season and were unable to get Thomas Tuchel to renew as manager, as well as missing out on candidates such as Xabi Alonso, Julian Nagelsmann and Oliver Glasner.