Kimmich played youth football forVfB Stuttgart. He then went on to joinRB Leipzig in July 2013. Stuttgart secured an option to rebuy.[15] He made his3. Liga debut for the club on 28 September of that year, as a substitute forThiago Rockenbach in a 2–2 draw withSpVgg Unterhaching. He scored his first professional goal in a 3–2 victory over1. FC Saarbrücken on 30 November 2013.[16] He finished the2013–14 season with one goal in 26 appearances.[17]
Kimmich scored his first goal of the2014–15 season in a 3–2 victory againstUnion Berlin on 1 March 2015.[18] He finished the 2014–15 season with two goals in 29 appearances.[19]
Kimmich left the club with a tally of three goals in 53 league appearances for the club.[20]
On 2 January 2015, Kimmich agreed to joinBayern Munich on a five-year contract lasting until 30 June 2020, for a reported fee of €7 million, most of which went to VfB Stuttgart.[21] He made his debut for the club on 9 August, starting in the first round of theDFB-Pokal againstFC Nöttingen.[22]Pep Guardiola gave him hisBundesliga debut the following month on 12 September when he entered play as a late substitute at home againstFC Augsburg.[23] Four days later, Kimmich made his first appearance in theUEFA Champions League in Bayern's tournament opener away atOlympiakos and he started in the Bundesliga for the first time three days thereafter, playing 90 minutes againstSV Darmstadt 98 in a 3–0 victory.[24][25]
Kimmich started the2016–17 season by coming on as a substitute in a 2–0 win against Borussia Dortmund in the2016 DFL-Supercup.[29] On 9 September, he scored his first goal for FC Bayern in a 2–0Bundesliga, away win atFC Schalke 04.[30] Four days later, he scored his first two Champions League goals in a 5–0 home win againstFC Rostov.[31] Kimmich scored a late winning goal in the 88th minute in a 1–0 away victory overHamburger SV.[32] He finished the 2016–17 season with nine goals in forty appearances.[29][33]
AfterPhilipp Lahm's retirement, Kimmich took over his position and began playing as a right-back.[34] He played in the2017 DFL-Supercup and won the title as Bayern defeated their arch-rival Borussia Dortmund on 5–4 penalties after theextra time ended 2–2.[35] On 16 September, he provided overall three assists toThomas Müller,Arjen Robben andRobert Lewandowski's goals to defeat1. FSV Mainz 05 with a 4–0 victory.[36] On 9 March 2018, Kimmich signed a three-year contract extension which lasts until 30 June 2023.[37] He managed to score each goal in both the first and second leg in theChampions League semi-final tie againstReal Madrid, but his side were knocked out from thecompetition on 4–3aggregate.[38][39] Kimmich finished the2017–18 season with six goals and seventeen assists in 47 appearances.[40]
On 12 August, Kimmich started the2018–19 season by playing in theGerman Super Cup and also won the title as his side defeatedEintracht Frankfurt with a 5–0 victory.[41] The following week, on 18 August 2018, Kimmich played in the 1–0 win againstSV Drochtersen/Assel in the first round of the German Cup.[42] Kimmich played in the opening match of theBundesliga season against1899 Hoffenheim on 24 August 2018.[43] Bayern won the match 3–1.[43] Kimmich's first goal of the season came againstHannover 96 on 15 December 2018.[44] He made his 100th league appearance for the club on 9 February 2019 during a 3–1 win over rivals, Schalke.[45]
Kimmich played every single minute in all 34 matches in the Bundesliga. In those 34 matches, Kimmich scored two goals and finished second in the league with 13 assists.[46] On 14 August 2020, Kimmich scored one goal and provided an assist in an8–2 win overBarcelona in the2019–20 UEFA Champions League quarter-final.[47] On 23 August 2020, Kimmich made an important assist for the winning goal againstParis Saint-Germain byKingsley Coman in thefinal,[48] to be his first Champions League title along with his teammateSerge Gnabry, another VfB Stuttgart academy product.[49]
Kimmich started the 2020–21 season by acquiring the number 6 shirt, afterThiago Alcântara, who had worn it for seven years, departed forLiverpool.[50] In addition, he transitioned to the defensive midfielder position under coachHansi Flick.[51] On 30 September 2020, he scored the winning goal in a 3–2 win over Borussia Dortmund in the2020 DFL-Supercup.[52] On 27 October, he netted the decisive goal in a 2–1 away victory overLokomotiv Moscow in the2020–21 UEFA Champions League.[53]
On 23 August 2021, Kimmich signed a new contract with Bayern, keeping him at the club until 2025.[54] On 24 January 2023, he scored a goal from a distance of 25 meters, to equalize the match 1–1 against1. FC Köln in the 90th minute.[55]
On 28 October 2023, he received his first straight red card at senior level in the 4th minute, having previously been sent off with Stuttgart U19 in 2013,[56] in a match which witnessed two red cards for the opponent and an 8–0 victory overDarmstadt.[57]
On 17 April 2024, Kimmich scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory overArsenal to secure a 3–2 aggregate win in the quarter-finals, helping Bayern into the semi-finals of the2023–24 UEFA Champions League, reaching that stage for the first time since winning the title in 2019–20.[58] In the latter half of the 2023–24 season, he played as a right-back under coachThomas Tuchel.[59]
On 13 March 2025, Kimmich extended his contract with Bayern until 2029.[60] Later that year, on 4 November, he reached his100th Champions League appearance in a 2–1 away victory over Paris Saint-Germain.[61]
On 17 May 2016, Kimmich was named inGermany's preliminary 27-man squad forUEFA Euro 2016.[62] On 29 May, he made his international debut in a 3–1 home friendly defeat againstSlovakia.[63] On 31 May, Kimmich was named in thefinal 23-man squad and given the shirt number 21.[64] On 21 June, Kimmich was selected to start for Germany in their finalGroup C match againstNorthern Ireland, replacingBenedikt Höwedes at right-back.[65] Kimmich remained Germany's first-choice right-back as they reached the semi-finals and was named in UEFA's Team of the Tournament.[66]
On 17 May 2017, Kimmich was included inJoachim Löw's Germanysquad for the2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.[68] On 6 June 2017, he scored from a stunning overhead kick in a friendly againstDenmark in the 88th minute of the game which helped Germany to grab their late equaliser against Denmark, as the match ended up 1–1.[69]
On 19 May 2021, he was selected to the squad for theUEFA Euro 2020.[74] On 4 June 2022, he played the entire 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw againstItaly in a group game in the2022–23 UEFA Nations League and scored a goal in the process.[75] Ten days later, he scored a goal in a 5–2 win against the same opponent.[76] On 10 November 2022, he was named in the 26-man squad for the2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.[77]
On 7 June 2024, Kimmich was named in Germany's squad forUEFA Euro 2024.[78] In September 2024, he was appointed ascaptain of the German national team.[79]
Horst Hrubesch has praised Kimmich for his versatility, saying "Joshua has enormous quality and is versatile in both attacking and defensive roles," also describing him as "an intelligent player with good technical skills and agility" and as "a winner." Remarking on Kimmich's versatility, a 2017 article on the Bundesliga's official website referred to him as a "veritableSwiss Army knife of a player", citing Guardiola's conversion of a player he once referred to as "one of the best defensive midfielder in the world" into a right-back.[82][83] He has also been used as a make-shiftcentre-back on occasion,[84] as acentral midfielder, or as adeep-lying playmaker, due to his ability to dictate play in midfield.[85][86][87] In 2015, Guardiola described Kimmich as a promising player, and noted that he "...has everything a player needs. He is very intelligent, always aggressive toward the ball, strong in the air, has an eye for free space, has superb vision and knows when to charge forward and when to sit back."[88]
Amin Younes complimented Kimmich's defensive awareness as well in an interview, after theU21 EURO group stage. "Winning the ball back superbly. He does that really well", Younes told to the media. During the U21 competition, Philip Röber ofUEFA.com, described Kimmich's playing style on the website and compared him toİlkay Gündoğan, but other critics compared him to retired Bayern captainPhilipp Lahm.[89]
At Leipzig, he was part of an extremely attack-minded team in which his ball-winning qualities in front of a high back four shone through. In the Germany U21 side, he has a deeper role, but he has also caught the eye as a tidy defensive midfielder. Kimmich has great timing in his tackles, can dribble and does not mind putting in the legwork.
Kimmich married his long-time girlfriend, Lina Meyer in 2022.[93] The couple has four children, a son, born in 2019,[94] a daughter, born in October 2020,[95] with their third child being born in 2022,[96] and their fourth in 2024.[97]
Kimmich launched an online initiative "We Kick Corona" with his Bayern Munich teammateLeon Goretzka, to help charitable, social or medical institutions during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[98] Despite his early support for that initiative, he remained unvaccinated against COVID.[99] His unvaccinated status caused him to miss important matches for both the Germany national team and Bayern.[100][101] After testing positive for COVID in November 2021 and reportedly experiencing multiple side effects including decreased lung capacity, Kimmich publicly stated that he regretted his hesitancy and stated he would be receiving the vaccination.[102]
In March 2023, he featured in the German crime seriesTatort.[103]
^"Gold for Werner, silver for Kimmich".vfb.com. VfB Stuttgart. 15 July 2013. Archived fromthe original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved31 July 2014.VfB have secured a re-purchase option for Kimmich at the end of his stint in Leipzig.
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