Vincent Kompany has been discharged from hospital, five days after the former Man City captain collapsed at Bayern Munich’s training ground.
The news came from Bayern’s Max Eberl, who confirmed on Wednesday that the 40-year-old head coach had been allowed home. Vincent Kompany had been taken to hospital last Friday after collapsing while he watched the reserve team train, and his condition was described as stable at the time.
Kompany had already been unwell before the incident, so much so that he missed Bayern’s pre-match press conference ahead of their Champions League meeting with Arsenal, as the Manchester Evening News reported.
Vincent Kompany discharged: what Bayern have said
Eberl spoke to German broadcaster ARD and the relief was obvious.
Eberl said: “Given the circumstances, he’s doing well. He was discharged from the hospital today. That is the biggest and best news for all of us.”
He also explained what had been behind the collapse. Kompany had been suffering from a meningeal irritation, which affects the protective layers around the brain and is seen as a warning sign for other conditions. The plan now is simple: he goes back home to rest.
When will Vincent Kompany return to the Bayern touchline?
There’s no date yet. Asked whether there was a timeline for Kompany’s comeback, Eberl was upbeat rather than specific.
Eberl said: “I am very confident that he will be back on the touchline, operating at 100 per cent, very soon.”
Until then, Bayern are in the hands of Aaron Danks, the assistant Kompany first worked with at Anderlecht, who has been running first-team operations. Danks made it clear last week that his calls with the boss were about health and nothing else.
Danks said: “I explained to him that we would be having no football conversations. It was just checking in on his health and making sure he’s okay. All the football operations are in our hands and we’ll work together as a team to keep the club moving forward.”
Vincent Kompany at Man City: 360 games and a cabinet full of medals
For City supporters, this one was always going to hit home. Kompany joined from Hamburg in 2008 and went on to make 360 appearances for the Blues, collecting four Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four Carabao Cups and two Community Shields along the way.
He was the dressing-room voice of the era that turned City into serious winners, and the bond with the Etihad never really went away after he left. That’s why his name kept coming up in talk about the long-term succession plan at the club, and why his early managerial steps, such as his verdict on Taylor Harwood-Bellis, were followed so closely in Manchester.
Guardiola’s prediction and the Maresca era
Back in 2023, while Kompany was in charge at Burnley, Pep Guardiola tipped him to manage City one day.
Guardiola said: “He will be back sooner or later. His destiny to be manager of City is already written in the stars. It’s going to happen. I don’t know when, but it’s going to happen. It’s my feeling. Maybe I am wrong.”
As it turned out, Guardiola left in the summer and City handed the job to Enzo Maresca, who has the Blues top of the table.
Is Vincent Kompany’s Man City destiny still written in the stars?
Honestly, that question can wait. Right now the only thing that matters is that Kompany is out of hospital and back at home, and every City fan will be glad to read Eberl’s words.
A meningeal irritation is not something anyone should rush back from, and Bayern deserve credit for keeping the football away from him while Danks keeps things ticking over. If Eberl’s confidence proves right and Kompany is back to 100 per cent soon, the old captain will have won one more battle. The rest, including any talk of a return to the Etihad, is for another day.
