Doku reveals Kompany reminded him of Guardiola during their time together at Anderlecht

Jeremy Doku has drawn a direct line between Vincent Kompany’s coaching methods and those of Pep Guardiola, saying his time under the former Manchester City captain at Anderlecht laid the groundwork for everything that followed in his career.

“Vincent Kompany came to Anderlecht, first as a coach and also as a player,” Doku told FourFourTwo. “Playing next to him, him giving me passes… he was a legend for City, so it was a privilege.”

Kompany initially arrived at Anderlecht as a player-manager before stepping back from playing to focus solely on coaching during the final months of Doku’s time at the club. The impression he left was lasting.

“He taught me a lot,” Doku said. “When he was my coach, he reminded me a lot of Pep. I’m not surprised he’s been so successful at Bayern Munich.”

Kompany has since gone on to manage Burnley and is now head coach at Bayern Munich, where he has continued to build a reputation as one of Europe’s more progressive young managers — a trajectory Doku says he saw coming.

Doku’s development at Anderlecht also coincided with his breakthrough into the Belgium senior squad. He made his international debut as an 18-year-old, coming on as a late substitute against Denmark before starting against Iceland, where he scored in a 5-1 victory — an assist from Kevin De Bruyne setting him up for the goal.

The experience of stepping into a dressing room alongside De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, and Romelu Lukaku was, by Doku’s own account, surreal.

“It was crazy, because you watched them play on TV, then suddenly you were sitting next to them,” he said. “I was one of the youngest there, but I always had the mentality that, ‘I’m young, but I want to prove to you guys that I deserve to be here.’”

“That’s what I did in training and I think I impressed them. Then, against Iceland, Kevin gave me an assist and I scored a nice goal. I fitted in quite well.”

Doku has since moved to Manchester City, where Guardiola — the very coach Kompany apparently reminded him of — now manages him directly, completing an unlikely but logical circle in his footballing education.