Hamann made the case on Sunday’s edition of Sky 90, the German broadcaster’s weekly debate show.
The former Germany midfielder pointed out that the current Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick, England’s current head coach Thomas Tuchel, and Nagelsmann, Germany’s last manager before Jürgen Klopp took the national-team job in July, had each kept Kimmich on the right of defence when it mattered.
“And now someone wants to tell me he’s world-class in the middle?”
For Hamann, as reported by SPORT1, the most important position in football is central midfield, and the fact that three successive top coaches avoided putting Kimmich there is the point.
Pavlovic and Nmecha the preferred pair
Hamann already has a replacement pair in mind: Bayern Munich’s Aleksandar Pavlovic and Borussia Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha.
“For me, there is no question that if we were playing a European Championship final tomorrow, Pavlovic and Nmecha would start in the middle.”
The idea is not purely theoretical. In Germany’s 2-0 Nations League win over Serbia on 1 October, Kimmich was absent after being allowed to leave the camp. Pavlovic started in a reshaped midfield alongside Bayern’s Tom Bischof, who opened the scoring, before Liverpool forward Florian Wirtz added the second. It was Klopp’s first win as head coach.
Hamann sees that evening as a glimpse of the future, with the captaincy following naturally.
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“I think the captaincy question will eventually resolve itself, because others will play.”
Klopp sidesteps the Kimmich story
Klopp, who is still only three months into a four-year deal that runs through the 2030 World Cup, has not taken the bait. Asked about Kimmich’s absence from camp, the new Germany coach brushed it off:
“Yeah, and then we get ourselves a Jo Kimmich story. That’s what you guys are up to.”
Klopp has instead stressed tactical flexibility, warning that no squad should be built around one player when injuries and form keep rearranging the picture.
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Matthäus: ‘An absolute leader’
Not everyone agrees that the debate is over. Lothar Matthäus defended Kimmich on Sky Sport after Bayern’s 6-1 win over RB Leipzig on 17 October.
“An absolute leader, not just today but has been for years. If you are a leader at Bayern Munich, you can take on that role in the national team as well.”
“Everyone respects him and looks up to him. He makes the difference in decisive moments and brings energy, personality and presence. On top of that, he has outstanding footballing ability. You simply cannot do without a player like him. I hope this debate finally dies down.”
Germany’s early exit at this summer’s World Cup in North America, a last-32 penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay, has given both arguments extra weight. Klopp inherited a dressing room still processing that result, and the midfield balance is the first thing every pundit returns to.
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The next test comes in November, with Germany sitting third in Nations League Group A2 on five points behind the Netherlands and Greece. Klopp’s side travel to Serbia on 13 November and host the Netherlands three days later, with two wins needed to keep a quarter-final place in reach.
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