Arsenal may soon have a golden opportunity to raid Bayern Munich for the services of Joshua Kimmich, who could reportedly be on the move at the end of the season. The Gunners are widely expected to be active in the summer market as Mikel Arteta looks to supplement his squad with an injection of additional quality.
Kimmich will be out of contract at the end of next season and is reportedly yet to open talks about extending his stay at Bayern, who will face Arsenal over two legs in the Champions League quarter-finals. The uncertainty over his future has sparked interest from a host of clubs across Europe with the Gunners among his potential suitors, according to Sky Germany.
It is said that Arsenal are joined by Manchester City, Barcelona, Liverpool and Real Madrid in the race to land Kimmich at the end of the season. The upcoming games between Arsenal and Bayern will give the north Londoners the perfect chance to open talks regarding a potential move. Manchester United, Chelsea and PSG have previously been credited with a desire to sign him but are not thought to be in the running at this stage.
Some clubs are said to have already reached out to Kimmich to discuss a move, but it remains unclear if Arsenal are among the sides in question. The report adds that Bayern would be willing to sell Kimmich in the summer if a ‘suitable offer’ comes in, while the player himself is understood to be open to the idea of a new challenge.
A move away from Bayern has been a possibility for quite some time, with The Sun reporting that Bayern tried to flog him to Newcastle in a swap deal for Kieran Tripper in January. The move never materialised, though, and he ended up staying in Germany despite his future at the club being highly uncertain.
Kimmich was reportedly involved in a bust-up with Bayern assistant coach Zsolt Low following their 3-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen last month. According to Bild, he needed to be held back by his team-mates in the tunnel after Low shouted something at him.
Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel was quick to downplay the incident, though, saying after the match: “I know what was going on. This is not for the public. We are in a football locker room. This is a pretty normal occurrence if kept within limits and it stayed within limits.”
Kimmich would be a shrewd signing for many top clubs in the summer, with the 29-year-old equally capable at right-back as he is in a holding midfield role. He has made 20 league appearances for Bayern this season, starting in all but one of those games and chipping in with a goal and five assists.
