Manchester City will have to spend £8.5m compensation to axe Vincent Kompany this summer
Pep Guardiola has serious concerns over long-term fitness of club captain and could decide to move him on at the end of the season
MANCHESTER CITY face having to pay out £8.5million to Vincent Kompany if they want to axe him this summer.
Kompany is a hugely influential figure at the Etihad having led to the club to two Premier League titles during his nine years in Manchester.
But the defender has seen his last two years ruined by a series of injuries which have now seen him relegated to fourth choice in Pep Guardiola's squad.
Despite being a huge fan of the 31-year-old centre-back, Guardiola knows he cannot allow sentiment to get in the way of his plans for the club.
And though Kompany has been fighting hard to build his fitness the City boss has major doubts over whether he can trust him to be part of his plans for next season.
The Star say Guardiola is looking at telling the Belgium star he can leave the club at the end of this season.
But the problem for City is the defender has made it clear in the past he wants to see out the remainder of his career at the club.
Kompany wants to stay at least until his existing £180,000-a-week contract expires in the summer of 2019.
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So if City want him to leave at the end of this season they will have to pay up the remainder of his deal in compensation - a huge £8.5m.
The club are likely to make a decision in the coming two months, but unless Kompany can prove his fitness over a long period his days could be numbered.
He has played just 12 times this season in all competitions, with the calf problems of the past still coming back to haunt him.
But he did make a welcome return to the starting team last weekend in the 1-1 draw at Burnley.
Now he will be hoping to get an extended run of games to prove his fitness, not just for City but also to show he can be part of the Belgium squad at the World Cup.
That won't be easy with City splashing out £57m to sign Aymeric Laporte last month to bolster their options at the back.
John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi are also ahead of Kompany in the pecking order for a starting role at present.