Announced as taking over at Anderlecht next season in a player-manager role, former Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany is preparing a rather busy summer on the transfer market, with many players expected to leave the Belgian club.
Hugely underperforming by their standards, the Jupiler Pro League side missed out on European football for the first time in 56 years this season, hence the back to basics approach with a new coach with fresh ideas.
Already taking a handful of Pep Guardiola’s staff with him to Belgium, Vincent Kompany is also expected to pluck a couple of players from Manchester City’s academy, with the first on his list allegedly Matt Smith.
The 19-year-old midfielder, who spent last season on loan at FC Twente, already has five Wales caps to his name, and knows Simon Davies, the former Manchester City U23 coach who will act as Anderlecht’s assistant manager next season.
DH in Belgium explain the only reasonable way a deal for Smith to get done would be via a loan, which, in turn, would confirm the departure of Adrien Trebel, who has been linked with Nantes.
The idea of this ‘partnership’, if you want to call it that, is to give first-team football to players who are ready to feature in the Jupiler Pro League but yet to be good enough for Manchester City top level.
