Bayern Munich are on the verge of agreeing a deal for Vincent Kompany to become their next manager despite his relegation from the Premier League with Burnley.
The Bundesliga club are poised to appoint Kompany, 38, to succeed Thomas Tuchel in the coming days having discussed a compensation package as the former Belgium international has a contract at Turf Moor until 2028.
It is understood that Kompany will look to take his backroom staff with him to the Allianz Arena, including first-team coaches Piet Cremers, Mike Jackson and Floribert N’Galula although assistant Craig Bellany is unlikely to join him. Bellamy could himself be a candidate when Burnley look for their next manager.
Bayern are confident of the deal being done and could make the appointment official in the coming days.
Kompany emerged with credit from his rookie season in the Premier League despite finishing the campaign with 24 points and five wins.
Pep Guardiola has consistently hailed him as an eventual Manchester City manager, having lifted four Premier Leagues as captain during his time at the Etihad Stadium. After a first spell coaching at Anderlecht in his homeland, he took Burnley into the Premier League in his first managerial job back in England.
The Bayern job will represent a huge step up for Kompany in his coaching career, even if he has experience of the biggest stage with City and Belgium. His squad will include Harry Kane and Eric Dier – both of whom he faced as a player – and will be looking to improve on last season’s third-placed finish when the club failed to win Bundesliga after 11 successive titles.
It was announced in February that Tuchel would leave Bayern this summer, although he also recently held talks about staying before his departure was confirmed. Fans also launched a petition for him to stay after he took them to the Champions League semi-final.
Bayern have been linked with a range of managers in the last three months. Xabi Alonso was an obvious candidate after his unbeaten season but chose to stay at Bayer Leverkusen. There were enquiries over Erik ten Hag, who is still in a job at Manchester United, while Julen Lopetegui was on their radar but has joined West Ham.
Ralf Rangnick also spoke to Bayern but decided to stick with the Austria national team. Others loosely linked included Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Zinedine Zidane.
Kompany coached two players who have performed well in Germany during his time at Burnley, with Ian Maatsen and Nathan Tella on loan at Turf Moor. Maatsen is preparing for a Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund, while Tella has the Europa League final with Leverkusen.