It’s rare that we find an interview about a Pep Guardiola disciple where the interviewer doesn’t ask the interviewee about the Manchester City manager.
After all, the Spaniard has helped many footballers improve their game over the years, and Joshua Kimmich, who has the small task of replacing Philip Lahm at Bayern Munich, is no different.
Now seen as the heir apparent to the legendary former Germany international, the 24-year-old is one of the first names on the team sheet at the Allianz Arena, and his progress is recent years is mostly down to Guardiola.
Speaking to France Football, he said: “Under Pep, I savoured every training session. He’s a perfectionist who’s always worried about details and doesn’t want to leave anything to chance. His sessions were so intense. He loves the game. On a personnel level, he played me at various positions to make me versatile. I even played a few weeks at centre-back.
“For him, it was key to know where your teammates are at any moment, but also the opposition in order to anticipate moves and play better in space. It’s under him that I learnt the most. In the space of a few months, I learnt a huge amount about the game and found space on the pitch I wasn’t aware of before.”
Arriving from Stuttgart in 2015, the (still) young defender has already made 155 appearances for Bayern Munich, scoring 16 goals and picking up 34 assists along the way.
During his time under Guardiola, Kimmich played at defensive midfield, right midfield, centre-back and right-back.
He only showed he could be their long-term option down the right during the 2017-18 season where he excelled in the role, assisting teammates 17 times that year, as well as scoring six goals.
