Vincent Kompany has announced that he is leaving Manchester City to become player/manager of Anderlecht. It was at the Belgian side where Kompany began his career.
The 33-year-old leaves City after an 11-year association with the club, a period in which he won four Premier League titles, four League Cups and two FA Cups.
He also played 360 times for the club and scored 20 goals, perhaps the most famous of which was the thunderbolt against Burnley which helped them to the Premier League title earlier this month.
"I stopped at their [Anderlecht's] training grounds on my way to international duty last year. Just to say hello," Kompany explained in a post on Facebook.
Coucke, the chairman, and Sports Director Michael Verschueren asked my opinion regarding the difficult situation the club was in.
I shared my thoughts and listened to their vision for the future: ambitious, courageous and determined to get back to number one.
I offered my help, no strings attached, should they need it.
Later on in the season, newly appointed Technical Director Frank Arnesen joined and we organized some technical sessions on how to build a strong playing identity based on attractive, attacking football.
RSCA has a tradition of having fantastic youth.
You could say they have the past and the future, but struggle with the present.
Not so long ago, I took a call from RSC Anderlecht.
Quite unexpectedly, they offered me the position of Player-Manager.
Michael and Frank explained to me in detail how they saw it working in practice.
They had thought it through.
Mr. Coucke, the owner, pledged full support: time, budget, framework, staff, facilities.
I was left not only impressed, but also intrigued by this sign of confidence in me.
It got me thinking.
Picture credit: Shutterstock.com
