Centre back: Vincent Kompany
One of the first signings of the Sheikh Mansour era for Manchester City, not many expected big things of Vincent Kompany when he arrived from Hamburg in 2008. However, during his time with the Citizens, the big Belgian has achieved legend status amongst their fans, and has earned the respect and admiration of rival fans and players alike.
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From 2008 to 2015, Kompany was indispensable to City, for his performances sometimes single-handedly won games for them. A hard-as nails tackler, he could occasionally seem rash, but always knew what he was doing. In his first three seasons of this decade, he averaged a 90% tackle success rate, as well as averaging over 2.5 interceptions per match, highlighting his exceptional ability to read the game.
Persistent injuries meant that from 2015 onwards, Kompany was never able to put together a consistent run of games. Indeed, he has averaged only 15 appearances a season over the last 4 campaigns. However, despite this, he has often come up big for the club when they have needed him most. In 2018, he scored the opening goal against Manchester United which would have contributed to a win, and City securing the title that very week, had United not come back in spectacular fashion in the second half to win 3-2. The following season, it was his long-range thunderbolt, his only goal of the season, which helped City to a 1-0 win over Leicester City, without which they may not have lifted the league trophy that season. His medal haul of 4 league titles, 2 FA Cups and 4 League Cups speaks to how decorated a player Kompany has been for City.
Kompany's influence on Manchester City, however, extends far beyond the pitch. As a captain, and a leader, he has proven to be an exemplary role model for children at City's state-of-the-art youth academy.
Having left England this past summer, Kompany is now player-manager of Anderlecht in his native Belgium.
