Anderlecht Born in
Uccle, Brussels, Kompany started his career at
Anderlecht at the age of 17. He made his professional debut on 30 July 2003 in a
UEFA Champions League second qualifying round first leg away to
Rapid București, starting in a goalless draw. His first goal on 1 February 2004 came in a 3–1 win away to
Sint-Truiden. Kompany won several awards including the
Belgian Golden Shoe and the
Belgian Ebony Shoe. Although several top European sides immediately showed interest, the player and his entourage decided to first develop a few more years at Anderlecht. "Don't you worry, I will stay here," he told Berend Scholten at UEFA.com. "At the moment the zeros in my contract are not so important. If I wanted to leave, I would have been gone already." In November 2003, still under contract until 2006, he agreed to extend his deal for two more years upon his 18th birthday in April 2004. In late 2003, Kompany was a target for
Manchester United manager
Alex Ferguson to cover the long-term suspension of defender
Rio Ferdinand. Ferguson attended Anderlecht's trip to
Celtic in the Champions League group stage so that he could watch Kompany, but was instead impressed by Celtic midfielder
Liam Miller and signed him. Additionally, Kompany's mother would not let him transfer until he had finished his education.
Hamburg in 2006 On 9 June 2006 it was announced that Kompany had been acquired by
Hamburger SV for a fee of €10 million, as a replacement for fellow Belgian
Daniel Van Buyten. In his debut season for Hamburg, he managed only six
Bundesliga starts for the club before suffering an
achilles injury in November that ruled him out for the rest of the season. Despite his lack of involvement in the season, he was selected in a 30-man provisional squad for the
2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. Kompany scored on 29 July 2007 in a 4–0 win (5–1 aggregate) over Moldova's
Dacia Chișinău in the last round of the
UEFA Intertoto Cup. Hamburg won the title via being the Intertoto team that advanced furthest in the
2007–08 UEFA Cup. In August 2008, Kompany fell out with Hamburg over his decision to play at the
Olympic tournament in China. After leaving the club, he criticised chairman
Bernd Hoffmann as "one of those people who know about money, but don't know anything about football". Kompany speculated that the club's lack of success in the past 20 years despite its large supporter base could not be attributed to the players alone.
Manchester City 2008–11 On 22 August 2008,
Premier League club
Manchester City signed Kompany from Hamburg on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut two days later in a 3–0 home win against
West Ham United, playing the entire match. On 28 September, Kompany scored his first goal in City's 2–1 away defeat by
Wigan Athletic. During his early time at Manchester City, Kompany played as a defensive midfielder. On 19 October 2009, Kompany signed a new five-year deal with City that would keep him at the club until 2014. He scored his second league goal for the club in a 2–0 home win against
Portsmouth and his third in a 6–1 win against
Burnley at
Turf Moor. during
Manchester City's 2011 victory parade Kompany was handed the number 4 jersey for the
2010–11 season after previous wearer
Nedum Onuoha moved on
loan to
Sunderland. On 25 April, Kompany again continued to
captain the side in the absence of striker
Carlos Tevez against
Blackburn Rovers at
Ewood Park, playing the full 90 minutes alongside Lescott in a 1–0 victory. On 16 April, Kompany captained Manchester City's victory over main rivals Manchester United in the
FA Cup semi-final at
Wembley; City won the game 1–0. Later that day, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year alongside teammate Tevez. In the
2011 FA Cup Final, Kompany started and finished the match, a 1–0 victory over
Stoke City, which delivered Manchester City's first major trophy for 35 years. At the end of the 2010–11 season, in which City qualified for the
UEFA Champions League for the first time, manager
Roberto Mancini praised Kompany as "incredible", and called him one of the top defenders in
Europe, with the potential to be number one in the world. He finished the season winning the club's Supporters' Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year awards, clocking up 50 appearances in all competitions including 37 Premier League starts.
2011–14 ing City against
Real Madrid in 2012 Kompany was firmly installed as club captain for the
2011–12 season, with Tevez having expressed publicly his desire to leave the club. The opening fixture on 7 August 2011 was the
Community Shield, which ended in a 3–2 defeat to rivals Manchester United despite City holding a two-goal lead at half-time. On 30 April 2012, Kompany scored with a header from a
David Silva corner in the Manchester derby; the game finished 1–0 to City and put them in first place ahead of Manchester United on goal difference with only two games of the season remaining. On 11 May 2012, Kompany was named
Barclays Player of the Season for his outstanding performance in the Premier League, the first time the award was won by a City player. On 13 May, the final day of the Premier League season, Kompany led the team against
Queens Park Rangers which ended in a dramatic 3–2 win, securing the league title for the club for the first time since 1968. QPR midfielder
Joey Barton attempted to headbutt Kompany during the match. On 25 July, Kompany signed a six-year contract with Manchester City, the longest of its kind in the club's history. After winning the curtain-raising
Community Shield 3–2 against Chelsea (Kompany lifting the trophy at the unfamiliar venue of
Villa Park), the
2012–13 season was something of a disappointment for the club as they finished bottom of their
Champions League group, placed second in the league (but far behind winners Manchester United) and lost the
FA Cup Final 1–0 to Wigan Athletic. Kompany played in that final, but had missed part of the league campaign due to injury, with Mancini citing his absence as a major factor in the failure to retain the title. On 2 March 2014, Kompany captained the Manchester City team that won the
League Cup Final, beating Sunderland 3–1. On 11 May, he scored Manchester City's second goal in a 2–0 win against West Ham United as the club won the
2013–14 Premier League title.
2014–19 , 2015 During
2014–15, Kompany accumulated 33 appearances in all competitions, but the club could only finish runners-up in the league and were eliminated from the domestic and continental cups at early stages, also losing out in the
Community Shield. In April 2015, he suffered a muscular injury during the Manchester derby which ended his campaign early, and this would prove to be the start of a long spell of recurring injuries (mainly muscular
strains) for a player who had already endured a number of physical problems since his arrival in England. and lasted just minutes into his comeback match in December. in February 2016, he was fit to take part in the
League Cup Final in which City defeated
Liverpool, and was named man of the match; however in May he was again forced off in the early stages of the
Champions League semi-final, finishing with 22 appearances and subsequently missing
Euro 2016 with Belgium. and on 22 November he sustained a knee injury. At that time, an analysis showed that he had suffered 37 injuries since joining Manchester City in 2008 and had missed over two years (878 days) in that eight-year period. By April 2017, he had recovered, and scored in a victory over Tottenham Hotspur, commenting on his issues that "The main thing is self-belief and experience". Manager
Pep Guardiola kept Kompany in the team for the
FA Cup semi-final, and he played the entirety of the match which went to
extra time; City lost the tie to eventual winners
Arsenal, finishing
2016–17 without a trophy. Kompany appeared just 15 times during the campaign, although his continued importance to the team was evidenced by the fact he would always return to the starting line-up as soon as he was fit. Kompany played in eight league matches for Manchester City during the first portion of
2017–18, suffering further strains during the period, before withdrawing minutes into an away fixture against
Newcastle on 27 December; Guardiola's responses in the press conferences suggested he was losing patience with the situation. He returned to the team on 3 February 2018, completing the 90 minutes of a 1–1 draw away to Burnley while
Aymeric Laporte, the club's new record signing in the same position, remained on the bench throughout. On 25 February, he scored Manchester City's second goal of a 3–0 victory over Arsenal in the
2018 EFL Cup Final, and was named man of the match. he eventually managed 17 league starts as Manchester City won
the title with a record 100 points. On 6 May 2019, Kompany scored Manchester City's only goal during a 1–0 victory over
Leicester City with his first goal from outside the box for the club. The result put the club one point ahead at the top of the
2018–19 Premier League table, and they retained the title by the same margin six days later. Kompany had already lifted the EFL Cup again in February 2019 after
a penalty shootout victory over Chelsea. He played the whole of the
2019 FA Cup Final, a 6–0 victory over
Watford, as the club completed an unprecedented
domestic treble The statues of Kompany and Silva were unveiled on 28 August 2021.
Return to Anderlecht On 19 May 2019, it was announced that Kompany would be leaving Manchester City to become
player-manager of his first club
Anderlecht. With two defeats, two goalless draws, six goals conceded and three scored, the Brussels-based club had endured their worst opening start to a league campaign since the 1998–99 season. On 22 August, Kompany decided to step down from managerial duties on the pitch, to focus primarily on being a player. Head coach
Simon Davies would be placed in charge of tactical changes and substitutions, while Kompany would be given the captain's armband. ==International career==