Liverpool have reached the midway point of the 2023/24 Premier League season and are three points clear at the top of the table, still in with a shot across the different cup competitions too.
League football takes a bit of a pause through January, with the upcoming weekend's action taking place in the FA Cup before the following two match weeks are split into halves to provide each team with a break.
With so much at stake, Jurgen Klopp would be forgiven for being somewhat short-sighted and ensuring that the January transfer window is utilised properly, and with Joel Matip suffering a season-ending ACL injury in December, it certainly seems like the defence will receive priority.
But, according to reports, plans are being drawn up to complete last year's midfield rebuild with a marquee signing at the end of the campaign, with Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich targetted.
Liverpool transfer news – Joshua Kimmich
According to a report from Spanish outlet AS in the days preceding the winter transfer window, Liverpool and Manchester United are poised to battle for the signing of Kimmich, with Barcelona still interested after failing to sign the Germany international last summer.
The 28-year-old is out of contract with Bayern in 2025 but is yet to enter negotiations for fresh terms, and suitors have picked up on the knowledge that he is considering his options.
Valued at £48m by Football Transfers, Klopp and Liverpool's technical director Jorg Schmadkte – who has many Bundesliga connections – may well be enticed by the chance of doing business for a bargain fee; if Kimmich refuses to put pen to paper, then the Bundesliga champions will have little choice but to cash in.
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ByLuke Randall Joshua Kimmich's style of play
Bayern signed Kimmich from Stuttgart as a teenager in 2015, since winning every honour available at club level across 367 appearances, posting 41 goals and 100 assists.
The 82-cap international has been regarded as one of the finest players in world football for some time, with erstwhile Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge declaring him the "very embodiment of world-class."
This season, Kimmich has only played 11 times in the German top flight after missing fixtures due to injury and suspension, but he has played 20 matches across all competitions and racked up important assists against Manchester United and Galatasaray in the Champions League.
He would bring new levels of creativity to Liverpool's midfield, ranking among the top 8% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for assists, the top 7% for shot-creating actions, the top 1% for passes attempted and the top 2% for progressive passes per 90, as per FBref.
While some Reds supporters might feel that he doesn't offer the kind of defensive security that is needed to complete Liverpool's new engine room, the £322k-per-week star actually averages the second-highest number of tackles in the entire Die Roten squad this season.
It would be a brilliant signing, providing Liverpool with a specialist No. 6 to rival Wataru Endo in the anchor, perhaps even mirroring title rivals Arsenal's summer swoop for Declan Rice, who joined from West Ham United for a staggering £105m fee.
How Joshua Kimmich compares to Declan Rice
Said to be a "passing master" by talent scout Jacek Kulig, Kimmich has never plied his trade outside his homeland at club level but could now be preparing for a move to England to try his hand in the Premier League.
And should it be Liverpool that get their hands on the player, Klopp could indeed hold the perfect weapon to match Rice, aged 24, in the centre, who has chalked up 28 displays so far.
Football Transfers list Rice as the second-most comparable Premier League player to Kimmich (behind Manchester United's Casemiro), with the pair's innate passing prowess, intelligence and energy surely something that would win Klopp over in his pursuit for Kimmich, especially after registering an interest in Rice last summer.
Over the past year, the England international ranks among the top 19% of midfielders in Europe for goals, the top 15% for pass completion, the top 16% for passes attempted, the top 11% for progressive passes, the top 6% for interceptions and the top 17% for clearances per 90.
Matches played
11
20
Goals
1
3
Assists
3
1
Pass completion %
90%
92%
Shots per game
1.2
1.4
Key passes per game
2.7
0.8
Tackles per game
2.0
2.1
Interceptions per game
0.8
1.5
Clearances per game
0.5
1.7
Ball recoveries per game
6.3
5.1
Duel success rate %
56%
51%
So what can be ascertained from the table above? While both midfielders offer similarities, crisp in their passing and active in tackling and recycling possession, Rice is utilised in a more industrious role, far more active in his defensive duties across the park.
Kimmich, however, is the more creative distributor, though his deeper-lying role facilitates such inventive passing. If Liverpool signed the German, Klopp would need to find a way to increase his activity in such phases.
Kimmich would play a similar role to Liverpool's Thiago Alcantara – who has yet to feature this season due to injury and is out of contract at the end of the campaign – which only adds fuel to the fire when considering the possibility of a summer swoop.
Kimmich and Rice are not identical, but there are comparisons to be drawn and the Bavarian phenom could have a transformative effect on the Reds' centre in the same manner as Rice at the Emirates Stadium, having been hailed for his "sensational" displays by journalist Matt Scott.
The transfer would not come cheap, but with so many young, exciting stars rising to the fore in the Liverpool engine room, perhaps Kimmich could be the general to command illustrious success over the coming seasons.
