Manchester City's Vincent Kompany celebrates scoring City's second goal in a 3-0 win over Arsenal in the League Cup final at Wembley. Carl Recine / Reuters
Manchester City's Vincent Kompany celebrates scoring City's second goal in a 3-0 win over Arsenal in the League Cup final at Wembley. Carl Recine / Reuters
Manchester City's Vincent Kompany celebrates scoring City's second goal in a 3-0 win over Arsenal in the League Cup final at Wembley. Carl Recine / Reuters
Manchester City's Vincent Kompany celebrates scoring City's second goal in a 3-0 win over Arsenal in the League Cup final at Wembley. Carl Recine / Reuters

Vincent Kompany a symbol of the old and new at Manchester City


Richard Jolly
  • English
  • Arabic

There was a moment, a couple of minutes after his cathartic celebration of his goal, that showed the player Vincent Kompany used to be. He had already done his best impression of a winger to win a corner and reacted with a striker’s predatory sense to redirect Ilkay Gundogan’s low delivery beyond David Ospina. Then came a surging solo run, the Manchester City captain powering through the midfield and deep into Arsenal territory.

It was an instant reminder that his gifts are such that Mark Hughes once selected him as a No 10 at Anfield. Admittedly, the fact the Welshman spent a season not using the man who would become the best centre-back in City’s history in defence explains why his time at the Etihad Stadium was brief and unsuccessful. Yet Kompany had a blend of the physical and the technical that meant it was possible to use him further forward. He has an adventurous streak. By the time he charged towards the Arsenal penalty box at Wembley, he was playing on adrenaline, just as he was in the instant when he outpaced Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, supposedly the quickest striker around.

It illustrated why Barcelona used to covet him. The power and pace to defend one on one, the ability to look bigger and quicker than anyone else, the skill-set to operate as a midfielder and the galvanising powers of a natural leader: few defenders have as many attributes. Kompany possessed everything except a guarantee of fitness.

His pockmarked past, disfigured by 41 injuries, added to the romantic feel of Sunday's League Cup final. Three of City's finest servants in their glory years scored, in Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Kompany. If Pep Guardiola's choice of the Belgian had felt like a sentimental selection, it brought a rich reward.

There has always been something symbolic about Kompany, signed a few weeks before City were transformed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed’s takeover. He felt the last of the old and the first of the new. It is easy to accuse nouveaux riches clubs of losing their identity and becoming purely about the money; that was never the case with two men signed nine days apart in the summer of 2008. Kompany and his old sidekick Pablo Zabaleta always brought the much of the soul, warriors whose bodies were battered by their commitment to the cause. The scars were more visible in Zabaleta’s case. Kompany’s forever damaged groin kept on sidelining him.

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Kompany and Zabaleta are part of a modern breed, the imports who nonetheless came to symbolise a club and define it. Think of the great talismanic Premier League captains – men such as Roy Keane, John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Patrick Vieira and Nemanja Vidic – and Kompany belongs in their bracket. He is a throwback to the British leaders of bygone days, but a very 21st-century figure, an arrival who has been assimilated and adopted as one of City’s own. “I will always be involved as a fan, as a player, as a manager, as a technical director, as a groundsman, it doesn’t matter,” he pledged in November.

He has 15 months left on his current contract. The cold reality is that, when the euphoria of Wembley fades, his immediate future may be as the fourth-choice centre-back. Guardiola had admitted that, because of Kompany’s fragile frame, he cannot rely on him. He has instead branded Nicolas Otamendi “Superman” for his efforts this season.

The costlier John Stones and Aymeric Laporte represent the future. But the probability is that none will ever mean as much to City as Kompany does. Perhaps City will never mean quite as much to them as it does to him, either. But that steadfast dedication helped make his Wembley heroics so memorable and so meaningful.

The specs

Price, base / as tested Dh12 million

Engine 8.0-litre quad-turbo, W16

Gearbox seven-speed dual clutch auto

Power 1479 @ 6,700rpm

Torque 1600Nm @ 2,000rpm 0-100kph: 2.6 seconds 0-200kph: 6.1 seconds

Top speed 420 kph (governed)

Fuel economy, combined 35.2L / 100km (est)

Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

Available: Now

The Bio

Favourite Emirati dish: I have so many because it has a lot of herbs and vegetables. Harees  (oats with chicken) is one of them

Favourite place to go to: Dubai Mall because it has lots of sports shops.

Her motivation: My performance because I know that whatever I do, if I put the effort in, I’ll get results

During her free time: I like to drink coffee - a latte no sugar and no flavours. I do not like cold drinks

Pet peeve: That with every meal they give you a fries and Pepsi. That is so unhealthy

Advice to anyone who wants to be an ironman: Go for the goal. If you are consistent, you will get there. With the first one, it might not be what they want but they should start and just do it

MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStreaming%20on%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMBC%20Shahid%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Men’s singles 
Group A:
Son Wan-ho (Kor), Lee Chong Wei (Mas), Ng Long Angus (HK), Chen Long (Chn)
Group B: Kidambi Srikanth (Ind), Shi Yugi (Chn), Chou Tien Chen (Tpe), Viktor Axelsen (Den)

Women’s Singles 
Group A:
Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn), Pusarla Sindhu (Ind), Sayaka Sato (Jpn), He Bingjiao (Chn)
Group B: Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe), Sung Hi-hyun (Kor), Ratchanok Intanon (Tha), Chen Yufei (Chn)

THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

Turkish Ladies

Various artists, Sony Music Turkey 

England v South Africa Test series:

First Test: at Lord's, England won by 211 runs

Second Test: at Trent Bridge, South Africa won by 340 runs

Third Test: at The Oval, July 27-31

Fourth Test: at Old Trafford, August 4-8

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
BULKWHIZ PROFILE

Date started: February 2017

Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: E-commerce 

Size: 50 employees

Funding: approximately $6m

Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet