Vincent Kompany has called it a “privilege” and an “honour” to manage Bayern Munich after he swapped relegated Burnley for the Bundesliga giants.
The former Manchester City captain has signed a three-year contract at the Allianz Arena to become the shock replacement for Thomas Tuchel.
Kompany had led Burnley back to the Premier League but failed to keep them in the top flight as the were immediately relegated back to the second tier.
Despite that, the 38-year-old has landed one of the elite jobs in European club football and will now be tasked with returning Bayern to the top of the German game.
Having won 11 league titles in a row, Bayern were well beaten by unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen last season, ultimately finishing third in the Bundesliga while also losing in the Champions League semi-final to Real Madrid after being dumped out of the DFB-Pokal by lower-league Saarbrucken.
“First of all it is a privilege, it is an honour,” Kompany said after being confirmed as Bayern boss.
“I am excited. My feeling, my energy is really positive and I’m looking forward to working with the players and the staff and hopefully giving everything that the fans want to see from the club.
“I’m really looking forward to being here, the club has a wonderful history but also a wonderful future and I want to be a part of that so hopefully many dreams in the Allianz Arena.”
Ex-Belgium defender Kompany started his managerial career at Anderlecht before taking over at Turf Moor in 2022.
I’m looking forward to working with the players and the staff and hopefully giving everything that the fans want to see from the club
Vincent Kompany
He led the Clarets to the Sky Bet Championship title in his first season but was unable to retain Premier League status as Burnley were relegated with 24 points having won just five league games all season.
“I see FC Bayern as an institution,” Kompany continued.
“What I am looking most forward to is the simple things, working with the players, working with the people inside the building, creating something that is described as a team, very simple things and I don’t think you have to make it more complicated than this, after that the rest will follow.
“I think if you stand for something you have to stand for something that is close to who you are as a person.
“I grew up on the streets of Brussels so we love the ball, we are creating and I love players who are brave on the ball but always I was also a very aggressive player and so I like the team to be aggressive, I like the team to be brave in being aggressive and that is what suits my personality.”
As Kompany looks to the future with Bayern, Burnley are now looking for their next manager as they target a return to the top-flight.
Kompany only signed a new five-year deal at Burnley last summer and Bayern have reportedly paid around 12million Euros to get their man.
The likes of former England internationals Frank Lampard and Scott Parker have been linked with the vacancy at Turf Moor, alongside ex-PSV Eindhoven head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Burnley minority shareholder JJ Watt said in a video on X: “We have already begun working extremely hard to make sure that we find the right person to take this project into its next phase.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean the biggest name, it doesn’t mean anything other than we want to make sure we find the exact right fit for what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to build at Burnley.”