FC Barcelona were involved in various operations during the course of the summer transfer window. Several positions were ready to be reinforced during the summer months and Barcelona had to ensure that they could shortlist the best possible arrivals in each of those positions.
Certain positions required much more attention than others, however. Two key areas where Barcelona wanted to bring in top talents were the right-back position and the pivot. While many names were addressed for both, one that stood out was that of Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich.
28 years of age and captain of the German National team, Kimmich is regarded as one of the best midfielders in European football. Due to several reports suggesting that internal tensions existed between Kimmich and his club, Bayern Munich, Barcelona attempted to test the waters but the asking price for Kimmich would ultimately be too big a hurdle for the Catalan giants.
Situation at Bayern
However, Barcelona did possess a direct link to Kimmich in the form of former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski. In a recent update by German reporter Tobi Altschaffl (h/t Bayern & Germany), Lewandowski is seen to have confirmed having talked with Kimmich regarding his ‘situation at Bayern’, and not with Xavi or anyone else:
“No. I only spoke with Kimmich himself about his situation at Bayern.”
He further emphasized that it could have detrimental effects on the team so it was not too much of an inquiry, “there was a lot of unrest and uncertainty over there in the past months. That can have an effect on a team,” he stated.
Denies ‘luring’ Kimmich to Barca
However, the Barcelona ace did make sure to make it completely clear that the conversation between the two was completely an informal catching up, and in no way did Lewandowski attempt to ‘lure’ Kimmich away to Catalonia:
“But we only spoke as friends and former teammates. I did not try to lure him to Barcelona.”
Kimmich and Lewandowski were together in the German club following the arrival of the German International in 2015 from RB Leipzig. From then onwards, they spent close to seven years together in Munich before Lewandowski ultimately ended up making a move to FC Barcelona.
