Bayern chief reveals Guardiola had Kompany on three-man shortlist to replace him at Man City

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has revealed that Pep Guardiola had Vincent Kompany on a three-man shortlist of potential successors at Manchester City before the Belgian coach joined Bayern Munich.

It has previously been revealed that Bayern Munich contacted Pep Guardiola before appointing Vincent Kompany as head coach in 2024 to hear the then-Manchester City manager’s thoughts on the Belgian.

Guardiola knew Kompany from his time as a player and captain at Manchester City and had also faced him as a fellow manager in England, where Kompany was in charge of Burnley before being relieved of his duties.

The Catalan coach clearly thought highly of the former Belgium international. In fact, as Bayern supervisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has now revealed, Guardiola even considered Kompany one of the top three candidates to succeed him at Manchester City at the time.

“We thought we’d hear what Pep had to say before making our final decision. So I called him,” Rummenigge told Bundesliga.com.

“We had a long conversation, lasting an hour and a half. Pep had nothing but praise for him. At some point, I asked him to give me an authentic, honest answer. He told me that he had a shortlist. Manchester City had asked him to put one together in case he ever decided to leave, and Vincent Kompany was one of the three candidates on the last shortlist he had drawn up.

“I then asked him one final question: ‘Do you believe he can coach Bayern Munich?’ He said, ‘One hundred per cent. Absolutely.’”

The conversation helped convince Rummenigge that Kompany was the right man for the job. He subsequently shared Guardiola’s assessment with the rest of Bayern’s hierarchy.

“I told them I’d spoken to Pep. I’d never heard him speak so highly of another person as he did of Vincent Kompany. From his point of view, there was absolutely nothing to stop us offering him a contract,” he recalled.

Kompany went on to join Bayern in 2024, while Guardiola was succeeded by Enzo Maresca as Manchester City manager last summer.