He is the secret boss in training - who will replace Kompany now

On Friday afternoon, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany collapsed on Säbener Strasse and had to be taken to a Munich hospital in an ambulance. The 40-year-old Belgian's condition is now stable and he is being monitored by doctors.

"Vinnie will receive all the necessary medical care and support and all the time he needs. His coaching team, in whom we completely trust, will take over his tasks," said sports director Max Eberl. It's been clear since Saturday morning: It's not about days, but about weeks. The man who will temporarily take on the boss role is Aaron Danks. In Kompany's absence, the Englishman will now become interim coach - his first game in this role is the top Bundesliga game in Freiburg on Sunday (5.30 p.m./DAZN).

The 43-year-old assistant coach came to Munich in the summer of 2024 - at Kompany's explicit request. Danks had previously worked successfully with the Belgian for just over a month in the summer of 2021 at RSC Anderlecht. He also brings experience: He has been coaching since he was 15 and began his professional career in Birmingham's youth team in 2004.

After more than a decade as a youth coach at West Brom, he made his first big leap to becoming a technical coach for the English U21 national team, where he worked, among others, for later senior national coach Gareth Southgate. Further positions with the English association followed before the short-term engagement as Kompany-Co in Anderlecht.

Danks is the secret training boss

At the end of April 2026, Kompany was already represented by Danks once: in the semi-final first leg in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain, the boss had to serve a yellow card and was only allowed to sit high up in the press box in Paris' Parc des Princes. At the time, Danks received a lot of praise for his representative role.

Now he led training again on Monday and Tuesday as Kompany was not at Säbener Straße due to his virus infection. Danks then took a seat on the podium at the press conference.

At Bayern, the assistant coach is something like the secret training boss. He prepares the units together with assistants Floribert N’Galula, René Maric and Daniel Fradley. Overall, Danks takes up the largest amount of time as a trainer in the daily coaching work. On top of that, he is responsible for forms of play and standards; in competitive games he is active on the sidelines in such situations - especially during corners and free kicks.

Stars internally rave about Danks

What will help Danks in his job: He is very popular with the team because he is nice, reliable and very loyal. While he appears very determined and meticulous during training exercises, he is also always up for a bit of fun: “Danksy”, as the Kompany representative is called by players and coaching colleagues, has been the zookeeper of the porcelain cockatoo since the 2025 championship. Since the “kidnapping” from the Munich luxury restaurant Käfer, the decorative bird has been present at all title celebrations.

In addition to his job as a coach, Danks' family is his top priority. However, his wife Victoria and their children Georgia (21) and Coby (16) did not move to Munich with him. During his regular visits, the father sometimes takes his son with him to Säbener Straße. Coby is then allowed to help out in training in trainer clothes - as happened on Tuesday before the Arsenal game.

"My family still lives in England, so I'm alone here in Munich. The family comes over during the school holidays and I spend a little time with them. And then we like to invite Coby to be on the sidelines and watch training," Danks told Bild. He helps the equipment attendants, packs the equipment for us, collects the balls. It’s just a nice little joy for him and also for me as a father who works abroad.”