What are Bayern Munich’s options to partner Joshua Kimmich in central midfield?
Injuries to Aleksandar Pavlović and João Palhinha, who were already competing against each other for one spot, have opened the door to someone else to play alongside Joshua Kimmich in Bayern Munich’s midfield.
What are Vincent Kompany’s options? bundesliga.com takes a look…
First thing to get out the way is the fact that this is very much a competition to play alongside Kimmich. He may be playing at right-back as captain of Germany, but at Bayern he is absolutely nailed on in midfield, and it appears there’s no room for debate there.
The 29-year-old is the only player to have featured for every single minute under Kompany prior to the November international break, and he’s spent the whole time as a nominal midfielder. There have been in-game tactical variations where he drops between centre-backs or even wide of them, but his role has been as the central cog.
Watch: The best of Kimmich
Prior to the emergence of Pavlović and Palhinha’s arrival, there was usually little debate around Goretzka’s claim to a starting midfield spot, and last season he chipped in with six goals and seven assists in the league. He got 10 of those in 2024 alone.
However, he’s made just one start in 16 competitive fixtures under Kompany and not featured at all in seven of those games. Much of that may be down to his style of play, which is far more box-to-box than what you’d consider of a classic ‘number six’, as was often the demand from the likes of Thomas Tuchel.
Watch: The best of Goretzka in the Bundesliga
Want more Bundesliga Action?
The 29-year-old likes to break forward, get into the opposition penalty area and on the end of balls there. Yet he also scores and provides in almost equal measure, with 45 Bundesliga goals to 47 assists over the course of 275 appearances at this level with Bayern and Schalke.
That isn’t to take away from his defensive efforts, though. Bayern are actually yet to concede in any competition under Kompany with Goretzka on the pitch. His all-round play was rewarded with that aforementioned sole start in the most recent game away at St. Pauli.
"We didn't doubt his qualities for a second, so it's a normal decision for me, but I also understand that the questions are coming now," said Kompany after the match at the Millerntor.
From being forced to look in from the outside, Goretzka is now seemingly the man in pole position to stake his claim in the continued absence of Pavlović and now also Palhinha.
Laimer made his name as a tenacious ball-winning midfielder at RB Leipzig, earning his move to Munich in 2023 in a transfer that had been agreed the previous January under Julian Nagelsmann. By the time he arrived at the Allianz Arena, Tuchel was in charge, and the Austrian would play 43 times in all competitions in 2023/24. In fact, there was only one match that he didn’t feature in when not injured.
The Salzburg native was used in central midfield and at right-back in almost equal measure last season. This term under Kompany, he’s been predominantly the back-up right-back, where he has made all five of his competitive starts. On three occasions he’s come on for the final half an hour in midfield.
Watch: The best of Laimer last season
His combative nature, combined with improving attacking impetus, make him the ideal candidate on paper to sit alongside Kimmich and do the dirty work. Although his success rate in challenges is well down on other midfield candidates (40.4 percent in 2024/25), Laimer is certainly tireless in his efforts and averages almost twice as many sprints per 90 minutes (41) as the next best rival in this position.
But perhaps the most likely determining factor in where Laimer plays is actually injuries to others. He and the left-footed Raphaël Guerreiro, who has also played in central midfield many times before as well, have both been used at right-back primarily because of injuries to Josip Stanišić and Sacha Boey. The latter is close to a return but will have to earn his place given how well Guerreiro has adapted to the position and Bayern’s current defensive solidity.
So, could Boey’s imminent return and therefore more options at right-back free up Laimer to move back into his preferred midfield position? It’s certainly a possibility Kompany will consider.
In the past, Musiala’s name would often get thrown into the mix when debating one of the two central midfielder roles in Bayern’s usual 4-2-3-1 formation. He certainly has the ability and calmness on the ball to dictate the play and has been used in the position a few times. By starting him deeper, it also allows the coach to pick a second number 10, like Thomas Müller, Leroy Sané, Serge Gnabry or Michael Olise.
Nevertheless, it’s very unlikely right now that we’ll see Musiala deployed alongside Kimmich. It would go against the balance that Kompany has instilled in his team of late, while also shifting the job of holding six onto Kimmich, which isn’t what works best.
On top of that, Musiala has emerged as a real goal threat this season. As well as the dribbling and finishing ability with his feet that we all knew he had, he’s also added killer runs into the box to get on the end of balls – even with his head more and more often – to score like a centre-forward.
Watch: Musiala - from initiator to finisher
The 21-year-old has five goals in eight Bundesliga outings already this term and nine in 14 across all competitions, including three headers to go with the one he nodded in for Germany against Bosnia and Herzegovina during the international break.
Musiala is without doubt adding more strings to his bow and developing into the complete goalscorer. Dropping him deeper risks halting that progress and removing a valuable asset from Bayern’s attacking arsenal.
Pavlović’s rise definitely falls into the category of ‘meteoric’. From youth player and ball boy who’s been on the Bayern books since 2011 to one of the first names on the team sheet when fit and now a senior Germany international, the 20-year-old has had a wild ride since his Bundesliga debut in October 2023.
In fact, such was Pavlović’s impact on the team that he actually ousted Kimmich in midfield and saw him moved to right-back under Tuchel. And with Kimmich restored to midfield this term under Kompany, the Munich native then managed to keep new signing Palhinha out the side.
Watch: The best of Pavlović
Even at such a young age, Pavlović has proven himself to be assured and confident on the ball, completing 94.2 percent of passes this season and averaging over 100 touches per 90 minutes, as well as improving the physical side of his game, such as winning almost 54 percent of duels in 2024/25 compared to less than half in his maiden campaign.
Being an attacking presence isn’t really what’s required of the man alongside Kimmich, with Pavlović mustering up only three shots this term, although one did win Goal of the Month with his sole strike of the season to earn a draw with Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern’s record when Pavlović has played in the Bundesliga is 19 wins from 25 games (plus three draws and three defeats). Their record without him since his debut is five wins and five defeats (the losses all coming in 2023/24).
Watch: Pavlović’s September Goal of the Month winner
Prior to his broken collarbone in mid-October, he was the man in possession of the shirt. It’ll likely be a couple more weeks at least till he might return to stake his claim to be first choice again.
It was no secret that Bayern were on the verge of signing Palhinha in summer 2023 until the deal fell through at the last minute on deadline day. In hindsight, without that moment, Pavlović may not have gotten his chance last season.
Either way, the Portugal international did finally get to sign in Munich this summer just gone. He was perhaps expected to come straight into the team after joining from Fulham but initially found his path blocked by that man Pavlović and started just once in all competitions prior to the latter’s injury in mid-October.
As such, he’s only played 347 minutes in the Bundesliga over the first 10 matchdays, compared to 553 minutes on the bench.
However, Bayern have looked far more solid with the 29-year-old in the side. They have conceded just twice with him on the pitch (on average one every 174 minutes), including clean sheets in the last four league fixtures, where he played 220 out of 360 minutes. In the 553 minutes without him in the action, Kompany’s men have let in five goals at a rate of one every 111 minutes.
Those numbers are telling, given Palhinha’s primary role within the team is to shore things up defensively and provide a shield to the back line, which has held notably high under the Belgian coach.
He’s shown on several occasions that he’s got the reading of the game to cut out potential danger, loves a well-timed sliding challenge and has so far won 54.3 percent of his duels in the Bundesliga, of which he contests some 24 per 90 minutes – more than the other defensive-minded midfield options.
A pass completion of 94.6 percent also demonstrates his cool head on the ball, while he also attempts the most long passes per game (five) of any Bayern midfielder except Kimmich, suggesting Palhinha is far from a one-trick pony in what he offers his team. However, a muscular injury on international duty this November has ruled him out for some weeks and opened the door to others again.
Related news
How will Germany line up?
Head coach Julian Nagelsmann has plenty of options at his disposal as Germany look to win the title for the first time since 2014...
5 reasons Bayern Munich will beat Benfica
Bayern Munich play host to Portuguese giants Benfica on Wednesday, and bundesliga.com has five reasons why Vincent Kompany's Bundesliga leaders will come out on top.
Joshua Kimmich: 10 things
He's conceivably the world's best player in two different positions - but what else is there to know about the Bayern and Germany generational talent?