1) Pep talk
“I have the biggest admiration for his work, personality and expertise. It doesn’t matter if he got relegated with Burnley. I would love Bayern to take the best decision,” Pep Guardiola said when asked about Kompany’s previously rumoured switch to the record champions.
Kompany played under the world-famous Catalan at Manchester City between 2016 and 2019, after all. The Belgian got his hands on two English Premier League titles during that spell, adding to the two he won in 2011/12 and 2013/14. The former centre-back also lifted two FA Cups, two League Cups and two FA Community Shields across a 360-game stint, spanning 11 years. He was club captain for eight of them.
Bayern‘s supervisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge later revealed that the club even spoke to their former coach about the 38-year-old’s credentials: “Pep gave us a big helping hand. He was full of praise, and his opinion means a lot to us.”
