The City boss, who celebrated his sixth trophy in the last two years with the FA Cup win over Watford, says Kompany’s influence on the pitch and in the dressing room will be sorely missed.
“When Vincent was fit, he took such an important role in our team – unfortunately sometimes that couldn’t happen – but whenever he played, he did so with pride, passion and desire,” said Pep.
“This club is what it is because of some of our great former players like Mike Summerbee, Tony Book, Francis Lee and Colin Bell but since Sheikh Mansour took over and Khaldoon became chairman, so came a new era of players who helped change this club’s destiny.
“Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and David Silva – they are incredible players who helped this club take a huge step forward.
“Vincent helped this club achieve so much before I came and when I arrived here, we tried to do it together along with all the other people to try and maintain that position and create new history.
“His spirit has been incredible; he was so important for us in the final weeks of this season and against Leicester he shot with a real desire to score that goal.
“It will be so difficult to replace Vinnie. Everyone is everyone and have their strengths, but Vincent is special. For all the times he gave a speech to the guys or spoke with passion about something, he believed in, his leaving will be a big loss.
“We will miss him. I will miss him a lot. Of course, I wish him the very best in the next stage of his life, but he is an incredible part of this football club and will remain so forever.”
