MY ACCOUNT
Bayern Munich players must share the goalscoring burden after Robert Lewandowski’s move to Barcelona, according to Joshua Kimmich, who hopes new arrival Matthijs de Ligt can contribute at both ends of the pitch.
Lewandowski completed his long-awaited move to Camp Nou earlier this week, having declared “something had died” within him after netting 50 goals in all competitions during his final season with the Bundesliga champions.
The Poland international has scored a total of 312 Bundesliga goals, with 238 of them coming during an eight-year spell with the Bavarian giants, and finished as the league’s top goalscorer in each of the last five seasons.
Bayern had already added Liverpool’s Sadio Mane in a bid to lessen the impact of Lewandowski’s exit, but Kimmich believes the Senegal forward cannot replace the 33-year-old’s goals alone.
“With Lewy we lose a lot of goals, which we all have to make up for collectively,” he told Bayern fans at an event in Washington, D.C.
“Sadio Mane is a great player, but I don’t think he’s the player who scores 40 or 50 goals in the end. Sadio is hungry, wants to win titles, wants to score goals and move forward. We hope to see that from him.
“He brings other qualities with him, so that another might score more goals. We have a few attacking players who can be dangerous.
“It’s also one of my targets to score more goals. There were three goals last season, that can definitely be improved.”
Having received an estimated €50million for Lewandowski’s services, Bayern announced the signing of Netherlands international De Ligt on Tuesday, as they bid to strengthen in defence.
Kimmich believes reinforcing Bayern’s backline could make all the difference after the loss of Lewandowski’s goals, though he also backed the defender to contribute going forward.
“Matthijs de Ligt has the skills to lead, organise and direct,” Kimmich added. “Hopefully he will score a goal or two for us, which is important after Lewy’s departure.
“The 50 goals have to go somewhere! It’s good for us when we have someone at the back who’s good at tackling, who can organise, and also scores goals. We have great quality in the central defender position.
“Without Lewy, it’s even more important to work better at the back. And as long as we’re winning the games, it doesn’t matter if we have a number nine.”
Meanwhile, Kimmich could feature alongside a new midfield partner next term after the club signed Ajax’s breakthrough star Ryan Gravenberch for a reported fee of €19m.
And the 27-year-old was enthusiastic about Gravenberch’s progress since joining, adding: “He’s doing really well in training.
“[He’s a] super boy, very sure on the ball, technically top, physically good. He’s 19 years old, it’s impressive that he’s already at such a high level. He can be very helpful to us.”
