DIAS, THE HEIR TO KOMPANY’S THRONE

No one can question the legendary status of Vincent Kompany at Manchester City. The Belgian defender led Manchester City to win a lot of trophies during his time at the club. No one would have predicted how successful Vincent Kompany was at the end of the season considering that Manchester City paid peanuts for his transfer. Manchester City paid around £6m to sign Vincent Kompany from German team Hamburg and he went on to have a monumental club career at the Etihad Stadium.

A lot of football stakeholders were scared for Manchester City when Vincent Kompany left the club after winning another Premier League title at the end of the 2018/19 season as it was unclear at the time if the club would be able to replace him at the heart of their defence. In the end, the Citizens have been able to replace him with Portuguese international Ruben Dias though they took some time to arrive at the former Benfica player. Dias is widely seen as the heir to the Vincent Kompany throne at Manchester City due to his qualities as a defender and as a leader.

In the first season with Kompany, Manchester City struggled defensively in the Premier League and they were unable to defend their title as a result with Liverpool beating them to it. Last season began in similar fashion until manager Pep Guardiola splashed the cash to sign Ruben Dias from Benfica in his native Portugal. The Citizens paid around £62m to sign Dias from Benfica at the start of last season. He was the main reason they won the Premier League title last season and it was not surprising that he won the PFA Player of the Year.

Dias is now firmly the defensive leader at Manchester City who have been able to replace Vincent Kompany adequately.