At school, when he was a child, Joshua Kimmich (2/8/1995) used to write in his classmates’ folders that he was going to be a professional soccer player and play for the national team. “It was an unreal dream,” he recalls. And yet, on Saturday against Stuttgart, the club where he trained before signing at the age of 18, for RB Leipzig – then in the Third and Second Division –, the German midfielder completed 400 official matches as a Bayern player. The 401 will be in Montjuïc, a field that he does not know but that could have been his home.
Between Kimmich’s ages 14 and 16, Barça won the Champions League in Rome and Wembley under Guardiola, and at just 15 years old it was when the Spanish team became world champions in South Africa. The Bayern midfielder cannot hide that that style of play impressed him. “Barça marked me and so did the Spanish team,” he revealed at the Bavarian team’s concentration hotel in Barcelona.
Guardiola made his debut in 2015
Against Stuttgart he celebrated his 400th match with the Bavarian giant
Bayern’s 6 did not hide its weakness for that Barcelona’s 6. “Xavi was my idol when I was little. I always loved watching their games,” he added in his analysis. “When Pep was the coach, Barcelona was a revolution because of how they dominated their rivals. Even now it continues to be a reference,” he added.
His was precisely one of the names that Xavi gave when Busquets announced that he was leaving Barça. “We need a world-class replacement,” warned Xavi, who also suggested Zubimendi (Real Sociedad) and Brozovic (then at Inter). The one who ended up arriving in the summer of 2023 was Oriol Romeu, who did not fit in and has returned to Girona. For this reason, the one from Terrassa insisted on his planning with the German.
“Barça and Spain marked me: Xavi was my idol, I loved watching his games”
Two aspects played in favor of the operation: that the footballer was tired of playing as a full-back under Tuchel’s orders and not in his position and that he had 12 months left on his contract.
However, nothing clicked. Xavi did not continue, Flick opted for Bernal and Casadó and Vincent Kompany landed in Munich with the clear idea of finally freeing Kimmich and giving him the reins of the game.
130 passes against Werder and Eintracht
This summer Vincent Kompany landed in Munich with the clear idea of giving him the reins of the game.
The Belgian coach wanted the midfielder to be a core player and, to do so, the first thing was to solve the hole on the right side. So he sent Stanisic back to compete with Boey and has even converted the left-handed Guerreiro. Bayern has already played ten games and Kimmich still has not moved from the double pivot.
And the thing about not touching it is not just a saying. Well, at the moment he has played all the minutes (900) in the start of the Kompany project. “His idea of the game benefits me a lot. “I can contribute my strengths,” he corroborates, happy with the return to his essence.
Without being a tower (1.77 meters), Kimmich combines the prototype of a defensive midfielder who is a physical marvel, very resistant, with the organizer who has quality and patience to find spaces. Against Eintracht and Werder Bremen he exceeded 130 passes. Without forgetting his arrival in the area, with 42 goals and 103 assists, although this season he has not yet made a dent in the scoreboard. He did score in September, against the Netherlands, with the German team, where he is already the first captain.
Ends in June 2025
At Bayern they trust that this good ‘feeling’ with the Belgian will ensure that the 29-year-old midfielder extends his contract
In fact, at Bayern they trust that this good feeling with the Belgian is one of the assets to get the 29-year-old footballer to decide to extend his contract. “I know that I have been linked to Barça. It is a big club with a very rich tradition. In football you can never make the mistake of discarding things. But I’m going to be direct: I’m not thinking about that right now,” he clarified.
After ten years in the elite, Schalke 04 is the team that Kimmich is best suited to. He has played 15 games against the miners, including two in the cup, and has always won. Also against Barça he has a full record in his four matches, including 2-8.
So Flick was on his side. “We are excited to meet Hansi again. In his time he restored our trust, he firmly believed in us when other people doubted.” The result was that they won all six possible titles. “This moment reminds me of that one. There is a great atmosphere, we play well and we are on a good streak. With Flick we gain a lot. Now we are on the right path,” he compares. And he is already a fixed midfielder.
#Kimmichs #release
