Joshua Kimmich plays down comparisons to Philipp Lahm

Joshua Kimmich has gotten off to a flying start with Bayern Munich this season and more recently, he played an integral role in both of Germany's World Cup qualifying wins over Czech Republic and Norway. His two starts for Die Mannschaft during the international break saw him go level with Franz Beckenbauer for consecutive matches started (21) and finished (full 90 minutes) for the German national team. Kimmich's also the only player in the German squad to have started the last 20 matches across all competitions, stretching back to EURO 2016 in France.

Germany coach Joachim Low had plenty of praise for Kimmich after the qualifiers and affirmed the player’s bright future:

Joshua is one of the biggest talents I have seen over the past 10 years or so. He has a certain hunger and desire, he wants to be on top of his game in every single training session. I think he can have a huge career.

Kimmich's most often been deputized as a right back by Carlo Ancelotti at Bayern, and he poses a continuous threat going forward to join in on the attack - he's also proven to be quite an effective right midfielder when called upon to do so. His positive performances as of late for both club and country have prompted comparisons to the recently retired Bayern and Germany great, Phlipp Lahm.

Kimmich insists he's his own player, not a 'clone' of Lahm

In an interview released by the Bundesliga, Kimmich was quick to brush off any comparisons to Lahm, despite striking similarities in their playing styles:

Philipp [Lahm] enjoyed a perfect career. You can never replace a player like that like-for-like, but it's also important for me to go my own way. I don't want people to see me as a Philipp Lahm clone. I want to do things as Joshua Kimmich.

Kimmich is in action, and likely to play 90 minutes, again this Saturday when Bayern travel to the Rhein-Neckar Arena to take on Hoffenheim in the evening kickoff of match day 3 in the Bundesliga.