According to a report from Sport1 journalist Kerry Hau, the recent stories linking Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich to Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Arsenal FC, Liverpool FC, and Manchester City are not true — but that does not mean that Kimmich is sure about his future with the club.
Sky Sport report Florian Plettenberg addressed the issue on Sunday (which we covered here), but Hau’s report goes deeper into why Kimmich is not so sure he wants to stay long-term in Bavaria.
For Kimmich, the mismanagement of this season by the club’s executives is still stinging:
According to SPORT1 information, Kimmich is still concerned about the chaotic events on Säbener Straße in recent months. It’s more about the future of FC Bayern than his own. The sporting development of his employer has been worrying him for a long time. As a reminder: Kimmich has repeatedly expressed — also publicly — the desire for continuity in the coaching position in recent years. This was not fulfilled.
Julian Nagelsmann’s end hit him particularly hard. He then spoke openly of “little love” and “little heart”. His statements were not surprising: no player in the Bayern squad got on as well with Nagelsmann as Kimmich — which does not mean that he now has a problem with his successor.
On the contrary: He has also built up a good relationship with Thomas Tuchel in recent weeks. Because he’s ambitious, because he talks a lot, because he takes a critical look at the problems on the pitch. Sometimes fellow players even say that he is a bit too dogged. But that’s how Kimmich ticks: he loves to win and hates to lose.
Kimmich’s bitterness about the botched sacking of Nagelsmann seems to be a sticking point and might have opened his eyes to some of the club’s other issues of talent identification and squad planning:
The frustration runs deep! Kimmich will therefore be watching closely what is happening on the Säbener over the next few months. His contract expires in 2025. An extension is for him at the earliest in the coming year in question. Until then, he wants to know in which direction the club’s plans are going. The answer to the question is important to him: Can FC Bayern continue to play in the Champions League in the future?
For a player considered to be the team’s future captain, this is damning news about the state of things. If things do not change, Hau says that Kimmich could start to take a look at other options. Like Alphonso Davies, it appears that Kimmich wants stability through an international competition:
Abroad, especially Spain, has always appealed to him. If he wants to take this step again, then after the home European Championship in 2024 — at the age of 29 — he would probably have the best and possibly last opportunity to do so.
So the Bayern bosses have been warned. In the short term, they don’t have to worry about Kimmich, he is “committed” to the club and is not considering a commitment to Barca or Real Madrid. But another season like this would be difficult for him to cope with. Kimmich wants to win, not fall into a hole.
The “hole” reference harkens back to Kimmich detailing that he felt like he “fell into a hole” after Germany’s flameout at the 2022 World Cup.
Now, the question must be asked, “How far will Bayern Munich go to keep Kimmich happy — and what does that mean for what position he plays and how much say he might have in the decisions being made at Säbener Straße moving forward?”
These are clearly questions that we will learn the answers to in the near future.
