BERLIN: Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann said Friday he expects Joshua Kimmich to make a full recovery from Covid-19, but the Germany midfielder has been warned the path to full fitness may be long.
Kimmich is not expected to play again until January as he recovers from lung damage caused by Covid after the 26-year-old, who is unvaccinated, tested positive last month.
In a statement, Kimmich has said he 鈥渃an鈥檛 wait鈥� to play and train again, but his enforced spell on the sidelines must continue as he has 鈥渟light infiltrations in my lungs.鈥�
On Friday, Nagelsmann made it clear Kimmich will miss Bayern鈥檚 last three Bundesliga games of 2021 only as a precautionary measure.
鈥淚鈥檓 not at all worried because the infiltrations are not dramatic,鈥� said Nagelsmann.
鈥淭he break is a safety measure and no damage of consequence is to be expected.鈥�
Kimmich is set to be one of Germany鈥檚 leading players at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Like the defensive midfielder, his Bayern team-mate Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting also has infiltrations of the lungs after testing positive.
Nagelsmann said both players will do light exercise over the next ten days, with their health closely monitored, 鈥渢hen the infiltrations should be gone鈥� and their training can be increased.
Kimmich has not played since November 6, after which he tested positive and only came out of house quarantine this week.
鈥淚t annoys him that he is absent,鈥� Nagelsmann revealed.
鈥淗e鈥檚 one of the most ambitious players we have. He鈥檚 someone who plays frequently and has ants in his pants now.鈥�
Kimmich sparked a heated vaccination debate in October when he revealed that he had declined a vaccine against Covid due to 鈥減ersonal concerns.鈥�
Nagelsmann said Kimmich is fully aware of the criticism he has taken, but insisted the footballer does not deserve to be treated as a scapegoat.
鈥淭here is no compulsory vaccination here (in Germany). He would have preferred the last few weeks to have been different,鈥� admitted Nagelsmann, who like most of the Bayern squad is fully vaccinated.
While Bayern hope Kimmich and Choupo-Moting make full and speedy recoveries, other Bundesliga footballers have not been so fortunate.
One example is Freiburg鈥檚 French midfielder Jonathan Schmid, who has not played since August after contracting Covid and is still rebuilding his fitness more than three months later.
Kimmich has been warned not to rush his recovery.
鈥淚t will be a rocky road to a comeback,鈥� Germany鈥檚 three-time wrestling world champion Frank Staebler told news portal t-online.
Staebler contracted Covid in late 2020 and after a long period of recovery, he won a Greco-Roman bronze medal at this year鈥檚 Tokyo Olympics.
But it was a lengthy process.
鈥淚n this case, (doing) a lot doesn鈥檛 help much. You just need a lot of patience,鈥� Staebler added.
鈥淛oshua Kimmich now has something he has never had before and that is very difficult to assess, because there are no long-term medical studies.鈥�