In the transfer summer of 2024, the fires of the rumor mill surrounding Joshua Kimmich from FC Bayern are blazing enormously. At this point, the midfielder is only under contract in Munich for one year. It is not surprising that a sale was not categorically ruled out on Säbener Strasse under these circumstances. Now Kimmich himself explained how close he was to a change.
“I had the feeling that Bayern were very open to letting me go. That doesn’t help the bond between the club and the player to grow any stronger. I talked to Max Eberl. He then confirmed that to me again: ‘If you want to leave, then you’re up for sale, then that’s possible,'” Kimmich said in the “ZDF” documentary “Captain Kimmich” (from June 9th in the ZDF media library).
Words that made Kimmich doubt the club’s support. Further collaboration suddenly became a distant prospect, as Kimmich admitted.
“Even if we win 30 games in a row here and the financial offer is crazy and the club is fully behind me. I don’t want to rule it out 100 percent, but 95 percent of the time I don’t see it happening that I’ll extend my contract here,” says the 31-year-old.
At the time, Kimmich was particularly impressed by an offer from Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG offer was “very, very blatant”
“With Paris there was a club that was very committed. One that wasn’t really on my mind. I’ve already spoken to the sports director and the coach. If there’s a lot of interest, and I have to say, they’ve done a really good job and really given you the impression that they really want you, then it’s a good idea to deal with it,” said Kimmich.
The deal still didn’t go through in the summer, but PSG got serious again in the spring of 2025. Sports director Luis Campos is said to have even visited Kimmich personally. The hard numbers on paper were also tempting: “Paris sent me an offer. The financial aspect was crazy. Really. Very, very crazy, I have to say. But I didn’t want to make that the deciding factor.”
The outcome of the story is known: Kimmich still signed a new contract with FC Bayern until 2029. According to Kimmich, the decisive factors were coach Vincent Kompany and his private situation. “It was right that I extended my contract with Bayern,” summarizes the captain of the German national team.