Joshua Kimmich: ‘I want to be me, not a Lahm clone or Lahm the second’

The Bayern Munich utility player is targeting the Champions League and World Cup in the next few months and says he owes much of his success to Pep Guardiola

On a sleepy Sunday morning in Munich, just before eight o’clock, Joshua Kimmich arrives early with more surprises in tow. It is unexpected enough that one of the best young footballers in Europe has asked to do an in-depth interview before breakfast on a Sunday – even if the fact that the Bayern Munich defender and Germany international speaks fluent English is hardly a shock. Kimmich, who has just turned 23, is more surprising in his willingness to examine the testing periods of an otherwise glittering rise.

Joachim Löw, Germany’s manager, has described Kimmich as “one of the greatest talents I have seen in the past decade”. Last week Paul Breitner, who won five Bundesliga titles with Bayern and the World Cup in 1974, dredged up a familiar comparison between Kimmich and Philipp Lahm. “He understands tactics, the phases of the game, and knows when to change the rhythm,” Breitner said of Kimmich. “He has everything to be the second Lahm.”

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2GNsTwM