Pep Guardiola says Vincent Kompany told him how good £55m star was before he joined Man City

Pep Guardiola says Vincent Kompany told him how good £55m star was before he joined Man City

Pep Guardiola has revealed that Vincent Kompany was “right” about how talented Jeremy Doku was before he signed for Manchester City.

In January, Andy Morrison claimed that it is virtually impossible for defenders to tame the Belgian international.

Tim Sherwood went as far as to describe the 21-year-old as “Leroy Sane-esque” due to how quick and direct he is, which goes to show how admired he already is.

Pep Guardiola says Vincent Kompany was “right” about how good Jeremy Doku is
After the Sky Blues’ 2-0 win against Nottingham Forest, Pep Guardiola also admitted he was surprised by how “clever” the youngster’s decision-making was in the final third, as he has continued to impress during his debut campaign at the Etihad Stadium.

Starting against Newcastle United and coming off the bench against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup, Doku could potentially start proceedings against Burnley as well in his side’s next Premier League fixture.

Ahead of the contest, Pep Guardiola disclosed how Vincent Kompany was correct about rating Jeremy Doku highly before his £55 million (CBS Sports) move to Manchester City in the summer.

MORE MAN CITY STORIES
“Jeremy [Doku], we spoke, yeah and we saw a little bit and he [Vincent Kompany] was right. I think Vinnie has a big talent that [from] my point of view, every player have been with him is better. So, have the ability to, in collective issue to improve the way they play”, Guardiola said (via HaytersTV).

The Burnley boss used to manage the City winger during his time as RSC Anderlecht’s player-manager, with the club sharing a famous video of the pair on X [formerly known as Twitter] as they battled it out in training in 2020.

 

As Jeremy Doku competed well against one of the strongest centre-halves in the world at the time in Vincent Kompany as a teenager, the latter must have been fully aware of how talented he was when he spoke to Pep Guardiola and Co. about him.

It’s fair to say that Kompany’s recommendation has helped the treble-winners, who went to sign one of the best young players in Europe last year.

Jeremy Doku will likely engage in a warm embrace with his former teammate and manager when the pair meet at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.

Multiple people made a mistake when voting during the FIFA Best Awards, claimed Portugal boss Roberto Martinez.

Earlier this month Lionel Messi won the men’s player of the year at the FIFA Best Awards, edging out Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and Paris St-Germain attacker Kylian Mbappe.

Messi began 2023 at Paris Saint-Germain, where he scored nine goals as they won the French League title, before moving to Inter Miami in June. There, the 36-year-old has scored 10 goals in seven games as the US outfit won the inaugural Leagues Cup.

Meanwhile, Haaland grabbed 36 Premier League goals last term, and a club-record 52 goals in all competitions as Manchester City won the Champions League, FA Cup and Premier League treble.

 

The Fifa Best Awards normally cover a calendar year and are different to the Ballon d’Or awards, which reflect performances across a season.

However, this year, the men’s Fifa Best Awards were judged from December 19, 2022 to August 20 2023, because the Qatar World Cup was included in last year’s ceremony.

Portugal boss Roberto Martinez, who voted for ex-Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic, now at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, suggested that many were unaware that the vote did not factor in the 2022 World Cup, where Messi captained Argentina to victory.

 

“It was a mistake,” Portugal manager Martinez told A Bola when asked about his vote for Brozovic.

“Now we have a lot of votes, we have a lot of elections. We have the FIFA player, The Best player, who has been there all season. The first time we have a World Cup in winter and the voting is strange because it was only for six months.

Haaland scored a club record 52 goals for Man City in the 2022/23 campaign
“For me, individual awards in football are difficult. I think the individual player represents what the team did. And what about Brozovic and Bernardo [Silva], and the players who were in the Champions League final, and who were successful in domestic trophies?

 

“But Brozovic is a player who represents an idea of the game, who represents what Croatia is doing. But it was a mistake, for the period in question.

“And I think I wasn’t the only one who made that mistake, because when you see the votes, I think there’s more of an intention to see what happened at the World Cup too.”

The FIFA Best awards are determined by a mix of votes from national team managers and captains, journalists and fans on Fifa’s website.

Messi and Haaland finished on the same amount of points, with Messi ultimately claiming the award having had more first-place nominations from national team captains.