Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (2024)

Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (1)

Bayern Munich and Germany ace Joshua Kimmich is a true warrior of the modern game. - © DFL

Bayern Munich and Germany ace Joshua Kimmich is a true warrior of the modern game. - © DFL

bundesliga
Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (2)Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (3)Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (6)

Joshua Kimmich might be the only man in the modern game to rank as conceivably the world's best player in two different positions - but what else is there to know about the Bayern Munich and Germany generational talent? bundesliga.com fills in the blanks...

1) 'Not good enough' for Stuttgart, but good enough for Leipzig

After spending several years making weekly trips to Stuttgart from his hometown of Rottweil, Kimmich began taking his first real footsteps in the world of football when he was welcomed into VfB's renowned academy as one of only 18 annual recruits – when he was just 14.

Despite playing alongside the likes of Serge Gnabry and Timo Werner up to the age of 18, Kimmich's hopes of breaking into the reserves were dashed. "'You're not good enough, your body is not strong enough,' the coaches told me, adding that I needed another year with the youth team," he recalled.

Instead of being his first big break, it was something which could have broken him – but it didn't. Kimmich drew strength and resolve from the set-back and decided to seek his fortune elsewhere, and it just so happened the youth coach who had lured him to Stuttgart had since moved to RB Leipzig, and he wanted him there.

"I just thought, I have this chance and I have to take it," Kimmich said.

2) Handpicked by Pep

Kimmich proved an instant hit in the Leipzig midfield, helping the ambitious German club gain promotion from the third tier in 2013/14. Midway through his first season of Bundesliga 2 football, he signed a deal with record champions Bayern, whose then coach Pep Guardiola reportedly went to watch him in action prior to the 2014/15 winter break.

"I was 20-years-old playing in the second division. I was like, 'Why do they want to get me when they can have every player in the world?' So it was a bit strange for me. But I knew I had this great opportunity," Kimmich said.

"I sat down in a conference room at Bayern's offices waiting to meet Pep Guardiola," he continued. "All I knew about Pep was from what I had seen on TV. I was so nervous, but as he walked in, I felt it right away — that trust. And immediately I knew: I wanted to play for Bayern.

"Pep spoke to me about my strengths and my weaknesses, and how he wanted to help me become a better player by learning a different style of play. 'I want you on this team,' he told me. That’s a moment I will never forget."

Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (7)

Kimmich first caught the eye of the Bayern hierarchy during a formative spell with RB Leipzig. - imago

Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (10)

Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (11)Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (12)

3) A Bayern legend under 30

Until the 2023/24 campaign, Kimmich had ended every season as a Bundesliga champion with Bayern. He's closing in on 400 competitive appearances for the Bavarian giants and contributed nearly 150 goals, which includes more than 100 assists.

Stuttgart's one that got away has also lifted eight Bundesligas, three DFB Cups, six DFL Supercups, the UEFA Champions League, the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup, and was voted into the 2019/20 UEFA Team of the Season for his part in Bayern's sixth European Cup triumph.

According to Lothar Matthäus, a Bundesliga and Germany legend in his own right, Kimmich will define an era for club and country.

“Joshua's one of the most important players in German football, not only now but also for the future," commented the 1990 Ballon d'Or winner previously. "I see him as a [future] captain of Bayern, I see him like a [future] captain of the national team. He has the German mentality.

"He is always giving his best. He is a winner. He can defend, attack, give the last pass, give the cross, score, plays with passion. He has a lot of quality."

Watch: Joshua Kimmich under the tactical microscope

Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (13)

4) Master of all trades

Jose Mourinho shares Matthäus' enthusiasm for a player more pliable than a bumper set of Play-Doh.

"I see him as a top right-back, left-back, centre-back, No.6, No.8, No.10... he has qualities to be anything," the decorated Portuguese coach told DAZN. "He's intelligent and understands what he has to do here and what he has to do there. I think he's phenomenal - absolutely phenomenal player."

Kimmich's preferred role is as a central midfielder, and he's surely one of the world's best, just as he is when operating at right-back for club and country. Guardiola even used the thinking man's footballer in the centre of defence during his three-year spell in charge of Bayern.

In one of the most memorable snapshots of Guardiola's tenure in Munich, the Spanish tactician darted onto the pitch as soon as the final whistle was blown on the 0-0 draw with Borussia Dortmund at the Signal Iduna Park, and was seen animatedly gesticulating and talking to Kimmich.

It looked as though Guardiola was berating the then 21-year-old, but it turns out the opposite was in fact true. "I told him he's one of the best centre-backs in the world," Guardiola said at the time. "He's got absolutely everything."

Watch: Pep Guardiola's unforgettable post-match chat with Joshua Kimmich

Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (14)

5) ... including a moral compass

When a fully grown adult male snatched Kimmich's match-worn jersey from a young Bayern supporter at the Allianz Arena following a Bundesliga win over Schalke in February 2019, the Germany international stuck around to ensure his shirt ended up in the hands of its intended recipient. The poor kid had penned a custom sign asking the Bayern warrior for it, after all.

Whether it was fan pressure or Kimmich's death stare, the culprit didn't take long to return the goods to the rightful, and gleeful, owner. Had he ignored the situation, he may well have been on the receiving end of a very public dressing down from Bayern's - if not the Bundesliga's - loudest player.

"He's a vocal player, I like that," said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

6) WeKickCorona

Opening up a can of proverbial on and off the pitch, Kimmich's raised money to fight the global Covid-19 pandemic.Working alongside Bayern and Germany midfield partner Leon Goretzka, Kimmich founded the WeKickCorona initiative, designed to help charitable associations and social institutions effected by the pandemic and associated lockdowns.

The duo provided €1 million as start-up capital - a fund that has since grown to over €6 million thanks to some 4,300 donors, including Germany internationals Mats Hummels, Lukas Klostermann, and Leroy Sane.

"We must help each other. With deeds, with gestures, with responsible action and with rationality. We are one society," Kimmich told the Bayern website."Health comes first, that’s why solidarity is now necessary in both small and large."

In recognition of their efforts, Kimmich and Goretzka were subsequently presented with the Fair Play Prize of German Sports for 2020, an annual award that honours actions, gestures, or initiatives characterised by fair play.

Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (15)

In October 2020, Kimmich (l.) and Leon Goretzka (c.) also claimed Bavaria's inaugural 'Special Award for Exemplary Commitment to Overcoming the Coronavirus Pandemic’. - imago

7) Red in club colours only

'Fair Play' may as well be Kimmich's middle name.

Remarkably for a player who packs more testosterone in his pocket-rocket frame than the entire field at an Arnold Classic, the Bayern all-rounder had never received a red card until Matchday 9 of the 2023/24 season.

His only previous sending off on record fell whilst playing for Stuttgart in the U19s Bundesliga on 3 March 2013, four weeks after his 18th birthday.

Watch: Joshua Kimmich - pass master

Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (16)

8) A Bayern record-breaker with an eye for the spectacular

Kimmich isn't a regular goalscorer, but he does have a habit of putting away worldies.

The standout is arguably his audacious chip over despairing Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Bürki in the May 2020 Klassiker at the Signal Iduna Park. It was the only goal of the game, and virtually ended BVB's hope of catching Bayern at the summit.

A lesser-known tid-bit from that hot-blooded affair is that Kimmich set a single-game club record for distance covered: 8.53 miles/13.73 kilometres.

Watch: Kimmich's incredible chip against Borussia Dortmund

Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (17)

9) He surpassed Beckenbauer

Records and Kimmich go hand in hand.

The Bayern terrier made a remarkable 24 consecutive appearances for Germany between June 2016 and October 2017 – bettering a sequence set by none other than Franz Beckenbauer. He impressed so much during that spell that he was named in a poll on the German Football Association's (DFB) website as their Player of the Year for 2017, winning by a mile with 43.5 per cent of the 52,761 votes.

Kimmich - who made his Germany debut at 21 in a friendly defeat to Slovakia in May 2016 and was part of his country's 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup-winning team.

He had earned 84 caps and scored six times for Germany before beingcalled up for the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament, which will be played on home soil.It will be his third European Championships to go with two World Cups.

Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (18)

Joshua Kimmich is off to Euro 2024 with Germany, which will mark his third European Championship tournament. - IMAGO/Gladys Chai von der Laage

10) A future Ballon d'Or winner?

Kimmich could yet emulate Beckenbauer by becoming the sixth German national to get his hands on the Ballon d'Or as the world's best men's player.

His former Bayern and Germany head coachHansi Flick certainly believes him capable of joining the great Kaiser (1972 & 76), Gerd Müller (1970), Rummenigge (1980 & 81), Matthäus (1990) and Matthias Sammer (1996) on the all-time list of global greats.

"I think if he manages to channel his extraordinary ambition a little better and steers it in the right direction, then he can become the world's best player," Flick said of Kimmich in an interview with 51, the official Bayern magazine.

"He's already a world-class player in several positions, but he can take another step - and I hope he does."

About the clubs

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Joshua Kimmich: 10 things on the Bayern Munich and Germany ace (2024)

FAQs

Who is number 10 on Bayern Munich? ›

Leroy Sané
Personal information
Current teamBayern Munich
Number10
Youth career
2001–2005SG Wattenscheid 09
21 more rows

Who is the GK for Bayern Munich? ›

Manuel Peter Neuer (German pronunciation: [ˈmaːnu̯eːl ˈnɔʏ.ɐ, -ɛl -]; born 27 March 1986) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich, who he captains, and the Germany national team.

How many goals has kimmich scored for Bayern Munich? ›

Club
ClubSeasonLeague
Goals
Bayern Munich2024–250
Total26
Career total28
12 more rows

Why does Bayern have 5 stars? ›

From thirty championship titles won: five stars.

Currently no club wears four or three stars. With at least two stars cthe teams of Borussia Mönchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund can come up. Counted here are only the championship titles from 1963.

Who is number 10 on the German soccer team? ›

Germany Squad
NamePOS
Toni Kroos8M
Jamal Musiala10M
Chris Führich11M
Florian Wirtz17M
19 more rows

Was Bayern number 10 before sane? ›

After completing his €50 million move from Manchester City, Bayern Munich's Leroy Sane was assigned the famous number 10 shirt. He took the mantle from Coutinho, who wore number 10 during his one year loan spell from Barcelona.

Who is 7 on Bayern? ›

Serge Gnabry Jersey | Number 7 in the FC Bayern Store.

Has Neuer won the World Cup? ›

Manuel Neuer (born March 27, 1986, Gelsenkirchen, Germany) is a German football (soccer) player who, as one of the game's leading goalkeepers, helped Germany win the 2014 World Cup; for his performance, he received the Golden Glove award as the tournament's best goalkeeper.

Who is the best player in Bayern right now? ›

Bayern Munich Squad
PlayerPlayerRating
1 Harry Kane31, AM(C),FWHarry Kane 31, AM(C),FW7.82
2 Leroy Sané28, M(CLR),FWLeroy Sané 28, M(CLR),FW7.68
3 Jamal Musiala21, M(CLR)Jamal Musiala 21, M(CLR)7.65
4 Alphonso Davies23, D(L),M(LR)Alphonso Davies 23, D(L),M(LR)7.13
19 more rows

Would Kimmich leave Bayern? ›

Joshua Kimmich is ready to consider a transfer out of Bayern if no agreement is reached. The Premier League could be a destination for him. Many clubs have him on their list. If he decides to leave Bayern, it's a concrete possibility.

Is Kimmich a right back? ›

Last season, Thomas Tuchel made the bold decision to move Joshua Jimmich out of Bayern Munich's midfield in favour of using the German international at right back.

Who is Bayern record scorer? ›

All-time Top Goalscorers
#Player / Current club
1Gerd Müller ---570
2Robert Lewandowski FC Barcelona344
3Thomas Müller Bayern Munich242
4Rainer Ohlhauser Retired228
21 more rows

Who wears 8 for Bayern Munich? ›

Leon Goretzka Jersey | Number 8 in the FC Bayern Store.

Did Bayern play with 12 players? ›

Bayern Munich were guilty of having 12 players on the pitch for a few moments during their 4-1 win over Freiburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday, leading to doubts about whether the result will stand or not. The error occurred in the 85th minute, with Bayern already 3-1 ahead.

Is Bayern a legendary club? ›

The most successful club in German football history celebrated the first of their 33 league titles to date in 1932, well before the Bundesliga was set up in 1963. Bayern won 11 consecutive league titles between 2013 and 2023, before Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen brought this run to an end in the 2023-24 season.

Who is number 10 on Portugal soccer team? ›

ODDS
MIDFIELDERPOSHT
Joao Palhinha #6M6'3"
Danilo Pereira #13M6'2"
Bernardo Silva #10M5'8"
Vitinha #23M5'7"
5 more rows

Who is number 10 on Borussia Monchengladbach? ›

Squad Borussia Mönchengladbach
#PlayerContract
10Florian Neuhaus Central Midfield2027
16Philipp Sander Central Midfield2028
18Oscar Fraulo Central Midfield2026
7Kevin Stöger Attacking Midfield2027
26 more rows

Who is number 10 in Real Madrid now? ›

Luka Modric

Was ten Hag at Bayern? ›

Ten Hag is well known to Bayern after a spell in charge of Bayern Munich II between 2013 and 2015.

References

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