‘I Luckily Had a Nightmare in Front of Sir Alex

Very few players would have the audacity to say they are grateful for missing out on a chance to play for a Sir Alex Ferguson-led Manchester United, let alone it actually be the case. During the Scot’s years in charge, the Red Devils were the most dominant team in England. With 13 Premier League titles under his belt, Ferguson built some of the greatest teams in English top-flight history that some of the best players in the world would’ve dreamed of being a part of.

Since his retirement, there has been a new dominant force in the North West of England – that being the noisy neighbours, Manchester City. With Pep Guardiola at the helm, the Citizens have matched and, in some cases, surpassed what United achieved under Ferguson, with stars such as Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Agüero playing a major role in that.

Another name who was pivotal to this success was former club captain Vincent Kompany. The Belgian remains one of the Premier League’s greatest ever defenders and is immortalised with a statue outside of the Etihad. However, the current Bayern Munich manager revealed that his career could’ve looked very different had one game in his career turned out differently – which may have seen him wearing the colour red instead of blue.

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Ahead of Bayern Munich’s 2-1 victory over Celtic in the 2024/25 Champions League knockout stages, Kompany was asked about how he and his side felt about going to play at Celtic Park – known to be the home of one of the best atmospheres in European football.

The 38-year-old explained that Parkhead played a unique part in his footballing journey, despite the fact he played poorly the first time he ever visited. The game in question was all the way back in 2003, where a 17-year-old Kompany was at the heart of an Anderlecht defence coming up against a Hoops side that boasted the likes of Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton, and Stiliyan Petrov.

Despite the Belgian giants winning the home fixture 1-0, they were well and truly played off the park in Glasgow, eventually succumbing to a 3-1 defeat. For Kompany, it was a rude awakening of the levels he still needed to reach, and his poor display would end up costing him a potential move to Manchester United. However, as the man himself revealed, he feels relieved that was the case given how his career would eventually unfold:

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It is well publicised that Ferguson was tracking Kompany’s progress as a youngster, as a list of potential transfer targets from the time period was released publicly that saw the Belgian named as one of four potential defensive reinforcements, which included Gabriel Heinze, Philippe Mexes, and Gerard Pique.

And while Kompany wasn’t signed off the back of his performance at Celtic Park in 2003, someone else that played that night was.

“When I went to the Celtic v Anderlecht Champions League tie in Glasgow in November 2003, it was to watch the Belgian defender Vincent Kompany,” Ferguson claimed in 2018 as per the Mirror. “However, my attention soon gravitated to Celtic’s energetic young midfielder, slight of stature but with an assured, calm way about him.

“What I witnessed was a player with a tremendous set of midfield fundamentals – his movement off the ball, his penetration of the Anderlecht midfield. I came away smitten by his performance, not least the timing of his runs.”

The player in question would turn out to be Irishman Liam Miller, who would score that night and sign for United in 2004. Sadly, the midfielder would not reach close to the same heights Kompany did. He would make 22 appearances for the Red Devils and receive 21 caps for his country, but would embark on a journeyman career that saw him fall down the leagues. He would retire in 2016 before tragically passing away just two years later, aged just 36.

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All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt – accurate as of 13/02/2025.