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Vincent Kompany holds the Premier League trophy beside Roberto Mancini and Gaël Clichy at Manchester City's title parade in May 2012. Photo: Stuart Grout, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Kompany taken to hospital after collapsing at Bayern training, with Aaron Danks set to step in at Freiburg

The former Manchester City captain had been fighting a virus all week. Bayern say his health is the priority, and the English assistant who led Villa to a 4-0 win as caretaker is expected to take charge on Sunday.

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Vincent Kompany was taken to hospital on Friday after collapsing at Bayern Munich's training ground, the end of a week in which the former Manchester City captain had been fighting a virus and, by his own admission, ignoring what his body was telling him.

The 40-year-old had been watching Bayern's reserve team train at Säbener Straße when he fell ill. "Vincent Kompany required medical attention after collapsing during a training session for Bayern's reserve team," the club said in a statement carried by the Guardian and bundesliga.com. "Kompany is currently undergoing a thorough examination in the hospital and will remain under medical care. For the time being, his coaching staff will manage all training and match-related operations."

Bayern gave no detail on the cause. Sky in Germany reported that his condition was stable, according to n-tv, which also relayed reports that he was taken to hospital by ambulance.

A week of warning signs

Kompany had been unwell for days. During last Saturday's 6-1 win over RB Leipzig he stayed seated on the bench for the whole match, Sportschau reported, and skipped the post-match interviews and news conference, leaving Max Eberl to explain that he was "really not well".

He then missed Tuesday's final training session and the pre-match news conference before the Champions League game against Arsenal. His assistant, Aaron Danks, stood in. "It has affected his legs at times and he's felt some pain," Danks said, according to ESPN. "It's just a virus. The most important thing we've just encouraged is that he rests, he takes the time he needs, whatever that may be, however long that may be."

Kompany was back in the dugout on Wednesday for a 2-2 draw in which Alphonso Davies and Harry Kane scored for Bayern and Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice for Arsenal. Afterwards, ESPN reported, he acknowledged that he had tried to push through the illness and had not heeded the signals from his body. Speaking to DAZN, as quoted by n-tv, he said he had worked a lot and slept little, and that at some point his body had told him it needed some rest.

The club's message

Eberl, Bayern's sporting director, set the tone on Friday evening. "Vincent Kompany's health is our top priority," he said. "At Bayern, we will do everything we can to ensure he makes a speedy recovery. Vinnie is receiving all the necessary medical care and support, and he will be given as much time as he needs."

He added, in the version published by bundesliga.com, that the coaching staff, "in whom we have complete confidence", would take over his duties. There is no timetable for a return, and Bayern did not suggest one.

An Englishman in the dugout

That puts the focus on Danks for Sunday's trip to Freiburg. SRF reported that the 43-year-old will deputise in the Bundesliga game, and 90min Germany said he will be at the forefront, having already taken on much of the coaching around the Leipzig match.

English readers will know the name. Danks, born in 1983, came through the coaching ranks at West Bromwich Albion's academy and the Football Association, and was on Paul Simpson's staff when England won the Under-20 World Cup in 2017.

He first worked under Kompany at Anderlecht in 2021, left for Aston Villa, and was in caretaker charge when Villa thrashed Brentford 4-0 on 23 October 2022, the first game after Steven Gerrard's sacking, as BBC Sport and Reuters reported at the time. He rejoined Kompany at Bayern in the summer of 2024, as the club's own profile of the coaching staff sets out.

It will not be his first time in charge of Bayern on a big stage either. When Kompany served a touchline ban for the first leg of last season's Champions League semi-final in Paris, Danks led the side in a 5-4 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, Sportschau recalled this week.

What comes next

Bayern remain unbeaten this season and sit top of the Bundesliga on goal difference, level on 14 points with Borussia Dortmund after six matches. Freiburg are third, a point behind, so Sunday is no gentle assignment for a stand-in.

Kompany's career in England, from eight seasons as City captain and four Premier League titles to taking Burnley up as Championship winners with 101 points, earned him a lot of goodwill in this country. On Friday night, the football could wait. The only news that matters now is the next medical update from Munich.

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