How is Joshua Kimmich only 28 years old? He has seemingly been at the top of the game for decades, an elite Swiss-army knife of a player that has been operating at either full-back, central midfield or any of the inverted libero, withdrawn raumdeuter positions that seem to be in vogue these days. He’s just a very, very good footballer, and Bayern would be mad to lose him, but lose him they might. It all feels a little bit Toni Kroos.
Kimmich’s contract expires in 2025, and could be available for a cut-price deal either this January or in the summer. Pep Guardiola is a long admirer of the German, having managed him at Bayern 2015-2016 and the feeling is mutual: Kimmich called playing under Pep “an incredible experience”. So Manchester City are keen but so are PSG, who could do with the maturity, talent, poise and pausa of Kimmich in their midfield. It should be an almighty scramble to get his signature.
More bad news for Bayern: Alphonso Davies also is exploring his options and with his contract also up in 2025, the German giants could lose him on the cheap. Real Madrid, the swines, are lurking and apparently in contact with Davies’s agent. The left-back is good friends with David Alaba from his Bayern days and it would not be a shock to see the pair link up again in Spain. And even more bad news for Bayern: Tottenham have nicked Radu Dragusin from under their nose.
Jordan Henderson is due to have talks with Steven Gerrard and Al-Ettifaq club suit Mark Allen over his future in Saudi Arabia, after reports linking him with a return to the Premier League. Now apparently Ajax are in for the veteran midfielder, although it remains to be seen how they can get anywhere near matching his current £350,000 weekly salary. Saudi Arabia and Amsterdam famously have very similar vibes, so you never know.
Something needs to be done about these Premier League parachute payments. Leicester City, 10 points clear at the top of the Championship in early January, apparently have the means to sign Italy international Stefano Sensi from Internazionale. What on earth is going on here? Being relegated used to be a punishment, not a way to just do a deep clean of the squad, which by the way is already looking healthy enough. In their most recent victory over Millwall, Leicester had on their bench: Wales No 1 Danny Ward, England internationals James Justin and Harry Winks, Belgium international Wout Faes (who arrived on Premier League wages for £15m), Denmark international Jannik Vestergaard, Stephy Mavididi (signed for £7.5m in the summer), Fatawu Issahaku (on loan from Sporting Lisbon), Tawanda Maswanhise and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (easily a Premier League player). How the heck can Leicester afford these players to just be in reserve, and add Sensi? The Championship used to be a fair fight.
Queen’s Park’s Callan McKenna is a target for Manchester United, who could pay less than £1m for the 17-year-old Scotland youth international, despite interest from Arsenal.
