His latest moment of brilliance was a timely reminder that for all the billions that have been subsequently spent since his arrival, this Manchester City would not exist without their captain Kompany. If his actions, emotions, and demeanour are suggestive of his future, that very same support should be greatly indebted for the time Kompany has spent at the club - arguably as the club’s most important ever player. A decade later, he is City’s most decorated captain, across a period of tutelage of four managers, three of whom have returned the Premier League title and has been voted the league’s best ever foreign defender.Īfter his latest exploits against the Foxes, Kompany was visibly emotional on the Etihad pitch where he was joined by his children and enjoyed the rapture generated by a grateful Cityzens fanbase in Eastlands. The double-Ebony Shoe winner arrived in east Manchester from Bundesliga side Hamburg for less than £7million following on from Anderlecht, and as a midfielder. The Belgian defender predates the Sheikh Mansour-era, joining a little under a fortnight before the approach of the Abu Dhabi Group in August 2008 that would indefinitely change the fortunes of the Manchester-based club.

Arguably more important was the image he helped to promote for the club in the penultimate game of the 2018/19 season with a beautiful anomaly of a strike for the three points against Leicester City, and cementing himself further in City folklore.Īs commentator Gary Neville rightly exclaimed upon witnessing his first ever Premier League goal from outside the box, “Where do you want the statue Vincent Kompany?” Seven years later, Kompany may not be the regular fixture in the City backline he once was, but he articulated his importance to this continually ambitious, routinely impressive City side. This article could well have been written in 2012, when City - then under manager Roberto Mancini - achieved their first title in more than four decades, a season that marked Vincent Kompany’s second successive season elected to the PFA Team of the Year.

Another title-winning season for Manchester City, neck-and-neck with a fierce rival with a race that has been taken right to the wire, in part due to a ferocious goal by their tenacious, beloved skipper.

Carla higgs kompany