Craig Bellamy will not join Vincent Kompany at Bayern Munich, with the Burnley boss set to be named the Bundesliga giants’ new manager.
Kompany is due to move to the Bundesliga giants despite the 38-year-old overseeing Burnley’s relegation from the Premier League, winning just five games all season.
The ex-Wales international has served as Kompany’s assistant for five years, joining his former Man City team-mate at Anderlecht and following him to Burnley.
Together the pair helped mastermind a hugely impressive Championship campaign in 2022-23 with Burnley returning to the top-flight as champions with 101 points, although their inexperienced young squad came unstuck this term.
Mail Sport can exclusively reveal however that Bellamy will not be joining Bayern, where Kompany is set to take charge.
Craig Bellamy (right) will not be joining Vincent Kompany at Bayern Munich as the ex-Manchester City defender prepares to succeed Thomas Tuchel
Kompany and Bellamy were team-mates at Man City before working together in the dugout
Bayern’s search for Thomas Tuchel’s successor has seen the likes of Xabi Alonso, former head coach Julian Nagelsmann and ex-Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick turn the role down.
The German giants had even tried to tempt Tuchel into staying after announcing his departure three months ago, but those U-turn talks failed to prompt a change of heart.
Bayern have turned to Kompany and held discussions with Burnley chairman Alan Pace over a compensation fee on Wednesday in the hope of wrapping up a deal in the coming days.
It comes as Bayern are themselves also looking to bounce back from a disappointing campaign.
The Bavarian titans finished the season without any silverware despite Harry Kane’s 44 goals in all competitions, and their next managerial appointment is sure to be a pivotal one.
As such bringing in a manager with no experience at an elite level club could be viewed as a risky one, if not exciting and daring, by many fans.
Burnley’s board had placed a sizeable amount of faith in the Belgian and deferred a considerable amount of power to him – particularly in the recruitment department.
He had spent in excess of £90million on new players over the season, though those reinforcements were unable to stem the flow of defeats as Burnley won just five games in the 2023-24 league season.
Kompany was unable to keep Burnley in the Premier League following the club’s first season back in the top-flight
Bayern Munich have also endured a trying campaign though still finished third in the Bundesliga
The club will of course be hoping to return back to the top-flight at the next available opportunity, and Bellamy spoke earlier in the season about how he felt his charges were sure to mature into top quality Premier League stars.
The former Welsh international suffered relegation with Coventry less than a year after they bought him for £6million in 2000, and recovered to win trophies with Celtic and Liverpool.
‘It was difficult,’ said Bellamy. ‘I was a waste of money. And then the next year I was the PFA Young Player of the Year at Newcastle. So it can change.
‘We have players with inexperience who are going to improve massively. They will be top Premier League players.’