Kompany to donate future earnings to charity

He promised to work hard to recover, following the latest in a long line of injuries. Kompany strained a muscle just minutes into a Champions League match against Real Madrid in May and had to sit out the Red Devils’ Euro 2016 campaign. The time spent recovering, he said, allowed him to reflect on the past.

“I’ve been playing with the national side for 13 years, which is a very long time,” he said in the video (pictured). “When I started, I was only 17 years old, and people assured me I would achieve my ambitions not only on the field but also beyond. I have three children, a happy life, so I can afford to take a decision to help me go further in that direction. In the coming years I want to give up the total sum I would be entitled to from the national team. I will give it to charities that are special to me. This will motivate me even more, and especially allow me to experience more of those fine moments with our supporters.”

Kompany is a Fifa ambassador to SOS Children and has contributed personally to the organisation’s projects providing education and housing to children in Congo, where his father was born. In 2013, he bought the club FC Bleid, now renamed BX Brussels, as a social project aimed at providing opportunities to disadvantaged youth in the capital.