Man City's Vincent Kompany says he is fit to face United
Friday 23 October 2015 19:14, UK
Manchester City skipper Vincent Kompany insists he is fit and ready to face derby rivals United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
An imposing figure, Kompany, 29, is one of the best central defenders in the world and has been the skipper powering City to new levels of success over the last few years.
Kompany arrived at the club 10 days before Sheikh Mansour took over as owner in the summer of 2008, and City and their Belgium international skipper have not looked back since.
As a bonus for City fans, not only has he inspired the team to glory but he also, every now and then, he has a Mancunian twang when he talks.
At this point, it's safe to say that Kompany has endeared himself to the blue half of Manchester and vice versa.
Returning from a hamstring injury, he hopes to be on the pitch against bitter rivals Manchester United in Sunday's Sky Live clash at Old Trafford.
Kompany made a late appearance against Sevilla in City's 2-1 Champions League win on Wednesday, and while it is not certain he will play on Sunday, he remains upbeat about his overall level of play.
"Every game I have played so far this season has been really good. I wanted to keep that going, so an injury is never a nice thing to happen at that moment," Kompany told nbcsports.com.
"But, having said that, I came back against Israel [on October 13] and it was fine and I felt good and was able to produce the same level of performance again. It just has to carry on."
Given his connection with the City faithful, Kompany knows better than most how these Manchester derbies are. After arriving from Hamburg at the age of 22, he has grown into a cult figure for City's fans and is the man who helped lead the club to their first league title in 44 years when City won the Premier League in 2012.
He also lifted the FA Cup in 2011, the League Cup in 2014 and another Premier League title in 2014. Suffice it to say that Kompany has been at the forefront of the most glorious period in City's history.
That fact, plus having married a lifelong City fan and being adored by the masses, means his connection with Manchester City runs true and deep - and it has been like that since the start.
"When I signed for Hamburg [in 2006], it was a place where everyone minded their own business. You didn't get a lot of interaction and a lot of help from randomers," he added.
"When I signed for City, it was before the City of today, obviously. I was getting help from all sorts of people who wanted to chat, who wanted to be there without even knowing, sometimes, that I was playing for Man City.
"It was just a nice place to come into and people were just naturally positive. There was always this thing at Man City, where people always found it funny when bad stuff happened as well, because they were just so used to it.
"To be able to give those guys the moments we've experienced in the last five years, for me, that has been incredible to give it to them. From that moment on, we have kind of been on the same journey, really. We see things in the same way so it is easy for me to relate."
City and United will contest the Manchester derby for the 170th time on Sunday. Kompany believes their rivals have strengthened considerably over the past 12 months and expects them to challenge for the title, along with the "usual suspects" and says a rejuvenated Liverpool will come good again.
"United have obviously gone into the transfer market big and they have built a squad to be ambitious and built a squad to win trophies," he said.
"That obviously stands in our way of achieving our goals but the thing is, I look at all the squads and who is not building squads to win titles in this country? It is crazy. They are not the only ones to watch out for, unfortunately!"
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