FC Bayern is launching a charm offensive to extend Joshua Kimmich’s contract. Sports director Max Eberl plays his biggest joker.
It was certainly no coincidence that FC Bayern’s sports director Max Eberl started the charm offensive in the promotion of a contract extension with Joshua Kimmich during the Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain.
After all, PSG was one of the clubs that expressed concrete interest in signing the 29-year-old to FC Bayern last summer. The captain of the German national team is only under contract there until the end of the season and could also negotiate a departure from Munich with other clubs in a few weeks after the turn of the year.
Among others, FC Barcelona with Hansi Flick and Manchester City with Pep Guardiola are said to be showing great interest in signing Kimmich. Both coaches know and value Kimmich very much from their time together at Bayern. So it’s no wonder that Eberl now played one of his biggest jokers in poker around Kimmich.
“We are very, very open with him,” Eberl told “Sport Bild”: “We tell him: We want to extend your contract. We say he should become the captain of FC Bayern if Manuel Neuer is no longer there at some point the place stands.” And after the 1-0 win against Paris, in which Kimmich impressed as midfield leader on the pitch and with a t-online grade of 2, Eberl went one better in the mixed zone of the Allianz Arena.
“Josh had a time here when everyone didn’t feel so comfortable and to a certain extent didn’t behave the way they should. I admit that openly,” said Eberl. “But that was over for me at the start of the season. Josh is back on his way to his top level, to becoming one of the best midfielders in the world. We want him to stay with us and become a face of the future.”
Eberl was probably referring, among other things, to what Kimmich had said to the national team almost two weeks ago. “It should be carefully considered,” said the 29-year-old at the time when asked about his pending decision for the future. The past also played a role in his decision, he emphasized, and said: “We also know what my situation was eight to ten weeks ago, so you had the feeling: When will the Kimmich finally be gone?!”
Under former coach Thomas Tuchel last season, Kimmich lost his place in midfield and played as a right-back. After the season without a title, Kimmich was no longer considered untouchable at Bayern and was sometimes even considered a possible candidate for sale.
Kimmich is also unlikely to have forgotten how he dealt with him during the corona pandemic, in which a public vaccination debate broke out around him. At that time he felt “let down” by his club, as he said in a ZDF documentary published a few months ago (read more about this here).
Under the new head coach Vincent Kompany, the 29-year-old is once again the undisputed leader in the central midfield this season. Kimmich has been active for Bayern since July 2015, making him the longest-serving professional after Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller.
Senegal
