A biography for Vincent Kompanyhasn’t been written yet.
“I kind of press pause when it's a derby, and the season doesn't matter to me anymore; it's all about the derby.”
“Ultimately if you can win playing a certain way, then why not do it?”
“I'll be connected with City for the rest of my life - as a fan, as an employee, as an ambassador. Whatever City decide or I decide, it's not something we can undo. We're tied to each other for life.”
“I want to be involved as a fan, as a player, as a manager, as a technical director, as a groundsman. It doesn't matter. Whichever way the club sees me helping them out, I'll always be around.”
“I think people generally have a good heart and the intention to help.”
“My mum was always more pushing me towards the academic side; she wasn't really interested in me having a professional football career.”
“Every club you sign for, they give you the same pitch - 'We've got a big project, big ambitions. We want to achieve this and that. We want to kick on' - and I just happen to be lucky that City was the one club that didn't lie about it.”
“Belgium's 1986 team is like the Christmas movie that they bring out every single year. That World Cup is something we get to see and hear about all the time. It is part of our general education in Belgium.”
“Only the very best clubs are able to pass the baton of continuity down through the generations.”
“There is one thing that is stronger than everything, and it is the colour of the shirt that you wear, and that is who you'll back.”
“Everyone in Manchester in general has a positive mindset.”
“I've worked extremely hard. There's always that part that people don't see, the things you do behind the scenes.”
“Sometimes it goes your way, and sometimes it doesn't. It's part of what football is about.”
“When I was a kid, it was very common to go places and get racially abused, starting from age six all the way up until you got into the first team.”
“I'm not worried about getting extra game time, extra minutes, and all this kind of stuff that so many other players will worry about.”
“When there's pressure on the ball, you can go man-to-man on your striker; you've got the advantage because the ball pressure means it'll be a difficult pass to play.”
“I've been very lucky - I don't come from a privileged upbringing.”
“We've had a humble upbringing. You know, my father came through as a political refugee; my mother comes from a hard-working-farmers family. We've had humble upbringing.”
“I've been able to come back at a high level which is something I'm happy about, not just stand on the pitch but able to perform as well.”
“I love the derby because of the banter and rivalry. If you live outside of Manchester, you can take it out of context sometimes, where you can think it's all hate, and I don't think it is.”