Kingsley Coman is looking forward to life in the new attacking group at Bayern Munich. In an interview for Daily Mail, he talked about the changing dynamic with Sadio Mané’s arrival from Liverpool and how he sees his own fit within a new chemistry developing up front for the Bavarians.
Coman has already helped with Mané’s acclimation at the Säbener Straße, explaining head coach Julian Nagelsmann’s training drills in their shared language of French. The two also share a similar profile on the pitch, both of them extreme speedsters down either wing on their day.
Mané is playing more centrally now, but in the new Bayern setup, that might be where Coman is headed, too. At least, he sees their positions as still fundamentally similar.
“He’s one of the best in our position,” Coman said. “As a winger or a striker. Playing with this kind of player you can improve a lot, they can teach you a lot.”
Bayern, of course, have a lot of goal production to replace after Robert Lewandowski’s departure to FC Barcelona this transfer window, and the common refrain from the whole team is that it’s going to be a shared burden.
“We all have to score more, definitely,” Coman said. “I don’t think there is a striker that can score as much as Lewy...but if we all score five to ten goals more, at the end, it will be the same.”
Teamwork will be the key to all this, and the early rapport Coman is developing with Mané is especially key in this brief early stretch of the season where they can’t share much time on the field together due to Coman’s current suspension.
“I know that when you just arrive to the team, it doesn’t matter how big you are, you need to settle and this is always easier when people help you,” Coman said.
Coman is a squad veteran now — leadership council member, freshly extended contract, and at only 26 it’s hard to believe he is entering his eighth season with the Rekordmeister. A long way since those fresh-faced days when the likes of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery were welcoming him.
He’s come quite far in that time, and with this system change, is eyeing the chance to take that final step in elevating his game.
“If I can be as [energized] as I am in the beginning of the action at the end, then it’s perfect,” Coman said. “You don’t have a lot of players that, even in history, could start the action, do all the passes and also be at the end. This is the goal that I am aiming for.”
It’s also maybe the one thing missing in his player profile to date. Coman has not yet topped ten league goals in a season at Bayern, with his highest count being six — achieved both last season and in 2018/19. Now that there are more goals to spread around the front four, it just might be his chance.
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