Arsenal And Liverpool ‘Interested’ In Joshua Kimmich, Who Wants Barcelona Move

Barcelona, Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool are all reportedly interested in signing Bayern Munich and Germany midfielder Joshua Kimmich.

The 28-year-old joined Bayern from Stuttgart in July 2015 and has made 345 appearances for the Bundesliga giants.

Now the captain of the German national side, Kimmich is widely regarded as one of the best holding midfielders in world football, having established himself as a right-back in his younger years.

It is quite normal for Bayern’s best players to rarely see themselves linked with a move elsewhere, and Kimmich is no different.

Man Utd have been linked in the past, but it doesn’t seem like the midfielder has ever been close to leaving the German club.

This summer could be the end of the road for Kimmich, however, with Barcelona looking to replace club legend Sergio Busquets in the summer transfer window.

Speaking on Friday, Xavi emphasised the importance of signing a new deep-lying midfield player, saying: “We must sign a pivot this summer, it’s a priority to have new player there following Busquets’ exit.”

And now we have gone from there being no rumours about Kimmich exiting the Allianz Arena to an absolute shedload of them.

The vast majority come from Spain, and Premier League trio Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City all get a mention alongside Barcelona.

Starting with Marca, it is said that Kimmich is ‘a very complicated option’ for the La Liga champions.

Everyone knows about Barcelona’s financial situation and the German international’s wages could be the biggest hurdle in their pursuit.

There are plenty of hurdles for the Blaugrana to overcome, to be fair; such as his hefty salary (€20million per year), Bayern’s asking price (if they even set one), competition for his signature, and convincing the player to join.

Said asking price is expected to be in the region of €60m, which is ‘very expensive’, though convincing Kimmich might not be too difficult, with Marca saying he would be ‘delighted’ to move to the Nou Camp even though Arsenal and Liverpool are ‘interested’, which Barcelona ‘like’ the idea of.

The only way Barca will be able to afford Kimmich is to sell a number of first-team players, which is the plan even if they decide not to pursue him.

AS reckon the signing is ‘very complicated, but not impossible’, with their report saying Bayern’s asking price is more likely to be in the region of €80m (£69.4m).

The way for Barca to deal with that particular hurdle will be to include a player or two in a deal to sign the 28-year-old.

Players who could be used to tempt Bayern into a sale are Ferran Torres, Ansu Fati, Sergino Dest and Nico Gonzalez.

Fabrizio Romano does, however, say the Bavarians have no intention to let Kimmich leave this summer.

The Marca report also backs up AS, who say Kimmich is ‘unhappy’ in Munich.

Moving on to Mundo Deportivo, it is once again said that the experienced midfielder is ‘unhappy’ following the exit of Julian Nagelsmann and is ‘considering an exit’ which has resulted in ‘tense and unpleasant situations’, something that ‘excites’ the Barca board.

This report adds Premier League champions Man City to the mix. Pep Guardiola previously worked with Kimmich in Munich and ‘would not hesitate’ to reunite with the midfielder, especially if Ilkay Gundogan – who is being linked with a move to Barca in the summer – leaves.

Finally, our favourite outlet Fichajes say Xavi is willing to include Ousmane Dembele or Andreas Christensen as a ‘bargaining chip’.