Vincent Kompany’s long-term Manchester City ambition revealed following Chelsea talks | OneFootball

Manchester City may have received a further boost regarding their own admiration for former club captain Vincent Kompany and his managerial ambitions in his career.

In recent years, Kompany has been regularly touted as a possible successor to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who is contracted at the Etihad Stadium till 2027 and in recent weeks has rubbished talk of a premature exit from the club.

Guardiola is vying for a fifth Premier League title in six seasons with a new-look Manchester City side at an embryonic stage of their transition under director of football Hugo Viana, who revamped the first-team squad last summer by sanctioning several high-profile exits and recruiting seven new signings.

Executives at the Etihad Stadium, led by Viana, are understood to be planning in advance for Guardiola’s inevitable departure from Manchester City, with David Ornstein of The Athletic reporting last month that there is a growing belief in the industry that this could well be the Catalan’s last season in the north-west.

On the pitch, Guardiola saw City’s title chances take another hit at the weekend as the Blues gave away a one-goal lead in injury time and succumbed to a 1-1 draw with Chelsea that has established a six-point lead for Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.

After Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias suffered injuries on Sunday, Manchester City are intensifying their pursuit of Crystal Palace and England defender Marc Guehi in January after recalling on-loan academy star Max Alleyne from Watford this week.

City are also close to securing the arrival of Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth after holding extensive negotiations with Vitality Stadium officials and the Ghana forward’s representatives in recent weeks.

Viana is drawing out plans for the future and while Guardiola maintains he will honour his current contract – which runs for another 18 months – Manchester City could be welcoming a club legend to the managerial hot-seat to take over from the Catalan.

As reported by Bayern Munich insider ‘Bayern Space’ on X, Vincent Kompany and his father Pierre received contact from Chelsea directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart in light of the dismissal of Enzo Maresca to explore the Belgian’s openness to taking over the managerial position at Stamford Bridge.

However, discussions were brought to a ‘swift and respectful conclusion’ by Kompany and those closest to him with no openness to a mid-season departure from the Allianz Arena and with his long-term ambition remaining clearly defined, with Manchester City being the only scenario that would be entertained before the end of his Bayern Munich contract.

Etihad Stadium ambitions are reportedly rooted in a long-held personal objective to return to the club and one day succeed Pep Guardiola, who worked with Kompany in the twilight of the latter’s playing career at Manchester City.

Chelsea relieved Maresca of his duties as head coach on New Year’s Day and with the Italian having a wealth of previous experience at the Etihad Stadium, Kompany could be going head-to-head with the 45-year-old to succeed Guardiola in Manchester at some point in the future.