Belgian star slams Hamburg after leaving

After his transfer to Premier League side Manchester City last month, Belgium defender Vincent Kompany has fired a parting shot at his former club Hamburg for their lack of success.

The 22-year-old signed for Manchester City for a reported 8.5 million euros (12.24 million US dollars), but he slammed Hamburg chief executive Bernd Hoffmann in German tabloid Bild.

“Hamburg can't cope with big-money transfers,” said the Belgium international.

“He (Hoffmann) belongs to the type of people who know something about finances, but not much about football.”

After Dutch midfield ace Rafael van der Vaart left Hamburg to join Real Madrid last summer, Kompany says the players alone can not be blamed for the north German club's lack of domestic success.

Hamburg won their last championship in 1983 and won the German Cup in 1987.

“The club has not won a title for more than 20 years, yet Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany,” said Kompany.

“The players alone can not be blamed for the lack of success.”

Kompany joined Hamburg in July 2006 from RSC Anderlecht for eight million euros (11.5 million US dollars), but fell out with the Bundesliga side after he went to Beijing to compete in this summer's Olympic Games where he was sent off in their first match in a tournament in which they reached the semi-finals.

Hoffmann justified selling the Belgian by saying he had not fulfilled the professional requirements by which the club had allowed him to go to China.