Vincent Kompany: As skilful as a winger, Man City’s rock & Mr Likeable

When Vincent Kompany joined Manchester City on August 22, 2008, he became one of the last signings of the Thaksin Shinawatra era.

Just 10 days after Kompany’s arrival, City were bought by Sheikh Mansour and transformed forever.

But while the club would soon begin making more extravagant purchases, including Robinho for £32.5million, the £6million acquisition of Kompany quickly proved shrewd business.

At the time, the defender was tipped as a hot prospect following impressive displays at Anderlecht (where he made his debut at 17) and then Hamburg.

In fact, the German club had paid a similar fee to sign him just two years earlier.

But if you happened to enjoy watching YouTube skill compilations in 2008, you might have known Kompany for a different reason.

Ronaldinho. Robinho. Anderson. Diego. Rodrigo Taddei. Christian Wilhelmsson. Joaquin. Vincent Kompany.

All recognisable names in 2008, and all connected by a common thread.

At the time of Kompany’s transfer to City, each of these players had carried out — or at least attempted to carry out — a piece of skill known as a ‘hocus pocus’ or, to use Taddei’s terminology, an ‘Aurelio’.

The ‘hocus pocus’, for the unenlightened, is a variant on the ‘elastico’, the trick mastered by Ronaldinho that involves nudging the ball with the outside of the foot before quickly snapping it back in the other direction with the instep.

More visually arresting but less practical than the ‘elastico’, the ‘hocus pocus’ puts things in reverse. It involves dragging the ball behind the standing foot with the instep, then quickly pushing it in front of the standing leg with the outstep.

Needless to say, the trick almost never works on the pitch.

Its most perfect example, the Platonic form of the