Messi wants €220 million superstar at Barcelona, Real Madrid superstar set for shock exit to join Barcelona and more: Transfer Roundup, 19 May 2019

By Shambhu Ajith

Modified May 21, 2019 07:36 GMT

Lionel Messi has decided who he wants to partner up with

Vincent Kompany leaves Manchester City to join Anderlecht

Adios Vincent Kompany, Manchester City legend

Vincent Kompany has decided to call it quits on his illustrious Manchester City career. Having won the domestic treble this season, the big Belgian called it a day on his exploits at the Etihad and has agreed to join Brussels club Anderlecht in the capacity of a player-manager.

Anderlecht is where Kompany began his playing career and life has truly come a full circle for him. Speaking about the decision, Kompany said,

"I choose to be grateful for the past but remain ambitious and driven for the future. For the next three years, I will take up the role of player-manager of Anderlecht. Belgium's finest," he wrote in the second part of a letter to fans on Facebook.

"This may come as a surprise to you. It's the most passionate yet rational decision I've ever made."

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Sripad