'He would be my president, always' - Toby Alderweireld backs former team-mate for shock FIFA role

Former Belgium defender Alderweireld has named Bayern manager Kompany as his ideal candidate to lead FIFA in the future. The former Tottenham centre-back believes the global governing body requires a leader with a genuine footballing background.

Kompany currently manages German giants Die Roten, where he has already won back-to-back Bundesliga titles. The 40-year-old previously enjoyed a stellar playing career, picking up serial silverware across spells in England and Belgium. Having shared the pitch 47 times together in Belgium's defensive line, Alderweireld insists his former team-mate possesses the perfect vision to govern the sport.

Alderweireld revealed that Kompany always possessed an ambition to influence the sport beyond the pitch, even if a managerial path was not initially obvious during his playing days.

"Who would be my pick to be the next president of FIFA? Vincent Kompany," Alderweireld told Hajper. "I never thought before that he wanted to become a manager. He always talked about going on a mission to change football but maybe it’s his mission to protect football. He would be my president, always."

The recommendation comes amid wider criticism of current FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who rose through administrative ranks at UEFA rather than playing professionally. Alderweireld believes administrators often lack the necessary insight to safeguard football culture.

"It’s very important that the FIFA president is someone who played the game and knows the game," he added. "We've all been a fan. Then we've become a football player. We know both sides. When I was a child, I went to all the away games on the bus. We're not just people who made good money out of playing in the Premier League and Champions League.

"We’re football fans too. We played the game. We know how it is. What it is to be a player and a fan. The one thing that's very important is that the person who's doing the talking should be a football guy because look at the World Cup. A 20-minute show at half-time? That’s where you need someone who knows football to say no.

"The most beautiful thing about the sport is its traditions. New things have their place too but we need to protect the traditions as well and that’s why you need football players, football people who have been around the game, to keep the businessmen in check."

Alderweireld stressed that preserving football's long-standing heritage requires former players at the highest table of governance to balance commercial ambition with traditional values.

While Kompany remains focused on his managerial duties at Bayern, Alderweireld firmly believes his former captain is destined to step up and safeguard the global game when the time comes.