Toby Alderweireld wants a football man in the FIFA president’s chair, and he has a very specific one in mind. Asked in comments carried by GiveMeSport who he would like to lead world football’s governing body, the former Tottenham defender did not hesitate.

“Who would be my pick to be the next president of FIFA? Vincent Kompany,” Alderweireld said.

He spent years in defense alongside Kompany for Belgium, and his pitch was that FIFA needs a leader who has actually played the game.

“It’s very important that the FIFA president is someone who played the game and knows the game,” Alderweireld told GiveMeSport.

Read also: The resignation route is closed: Motsepe sends the FIFA revolt to a vote in Rabat

“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.”

Kompany is not going anywhere

The endorsement lands at an awkward moment for the argument. Kompany became only the fourth coach after Pep Guardiola, Hansi Flick and Ernst Happel to win the Bundesliga title twice in his first two seasons, and Bayern extended his contract until 2029.

Nothing from Kompany, Bayern or his representatives suggests the former Manchester City captain has any interest in trading a Bundesliga dugout for football politics. Alderweireld’s remarks read as a former teammate’s admiration, not a signal from Kompany himself.

The vacuum Alderweireld is filling

The reason names like Kompany’s are being floated at all is the crisis engulfing Infantino. UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC called for his resignation in a joint open letter on August 10, describing his conduct as “not the conduct of a custodian of the game, but of one who believes the game is answerable to him.”

Read also: £120m or nothing: Man City run down the clock on Chelsea's Fernandez deadline

The trigger was FIFA’s abandoned plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and other events to private investors, Al Jazeera reported. UEFA declared the World Cup “not for sale” and said it had lost confidence in the current FIFA leadership.

Nominations for the March 2027 presidential election close on November 18. PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi, CONCACAF chief Victor Montagliani, AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and UEFA’s Aleksander Ceferin are already circulating as potential candidates, with CAF president Patrice Motsepe named by Al Jazeera as an outsider. Kompany is not on any credible shortlist, and Alderweireld’s suggestion is a preference, not a challenge to the field.

That a former international is picking a serving Bundesliga manager as his ideal FIFA president says as much about the pool of trusted names inside football today as it does about Kompany.

Read also: Russell Westbrook chose retirement over one more NBA reset

Read also: The end of the FIFA strongman: UEFA drafts an EU-style rotating presidency