Early career Kimmich played youth football for
VfB Stuttgart. He then went on to join
RB Leipzig in July 2013. Stuttgart secured an option to rebuy. He made his
3. Liga debut for the club on 28 September of that year, as a substitute for
Thiago Rockenbach in a 2–2 draw with
SpVgg Unterhaching. He scored his first professional goal in a 3–2 victory over
1. FC Saarbrücken on 30 November 2013. He finished the
2013–14 season with one goal in 26 appearances. Kimmich scored his first goal of the
2014–15 season in a 3–2 victory against
Union Berlin on 1 March 2015. He finished the 2014–15 season with two goals in 29 appearances. Kimmich left the club with a tally of three goals in 53 league appearances for the club.
Bayern Munich 2015–17 On 2 January 2015, Kimmich agreed to join
Bayern Munich on a five-year contract lasting until 30 June 2020, for a reported fee of €7 million, most of which went to VfB Stuttgart. He made his debut for the club on 9 August, starting in the first round of the
DFB-Pokal against
FC Nöttingen.
Pep Guardiola gave him his
Bundesliga debut the following month on 12 September when he entered play as a late substitute at home against
FC Augsburg. Four days later, Kimmich made his first appearance in the
UEFA Champions League in Bayern's tournament opener away at
Olympiakos and he started in the Bundesliga for the first time three days thereafter, playing 90 minutes against
SV Darmstadt 98 in a 3–0 victory. Kimmich ended his first season at Bayern having made 23 league appearances of which 15 were starts. He also played the full 120 minutes in Bayern's
2016 DFB-Pokal Final defeat of
Borussia Dortmund at the
Berlin Olympiastadion on 21 May. Kimmich started the
2016–17 season by coming on as a substitute in a 2–0 win against Borussia Dortmund in the
2016 DFL-Supercup. On 9 September, he scored his first goal for FC Bayern in a 2–0
Bundesliga, away win at
FC Schalke 04. Four days later, he scored his first two Champions League goals in a 5–0 home win against
FC Rostov. Kimmich scored a late winning goal in the 88th minute in a 1–0 away victory over
Hamburger SV. He finished the 2016–17 season with nine goals in forty appearances.
2017–20 After
Philipp Lahm's retirement, Kimmich took over his position and began playing as a right-back. He played in the
2017 DFL-Supercup and won the title as Bayern defeated their arch-rival Borussia Dortmund on 5–4 penalties after the
extra time ended 2–2. On 16 September, he provided overall three assists to
Thomas Müller,
Arjen Robben and
Robert Lewandowski's goals to defeat
1. FSV Mainz 05 with a 4–0 victory. On 9 March 2018, Kimmich signed a three-year contract extension which lasts until 30 June 2023. He managed to score each goal in both the first and second leg in the
Champions League semi-final tie against
Real Madrid, but his side were knocked out from the
competition on 4–3
aggregate. Kimmich finished the
2017–18 season with six goals and seventeen assists in 47 appearances. On 12 August, Kimmich started the
2018–19 season by playing in the
German Super Cup and also won the title as his side defeated
Eintracht Frankfurt with a 5–0 victory. The following week, on 18 August 2018, Kimmich played in the 1–0 win against
SV Drochtersen/Assel in the first round of the German Cup. Kimmich played in the opening match of the
Bundesliga season against
1899 Hoffenheim on 24 August 2018. Bayern won the match 3–1. He made his 100th league appearance for the club on 9 February 2019 during a 3–1 win over rivals, Schalke. Kimmich played every single minute in all 34 matches in the Bundesliga. In those 34 matches, Kimmich scored two goals and finished second in the league with 13 assists. On 14 August 2020, Kimmich scored one goal and provided an assist in an
8–2 win over
Barcelona in the
2019–20 UEFA Champions League quarter-final. On 23 August 2020, Kimmich made an important assist for the winning goal against
Paris Saint-Germain by
Kingsley Coman in the
final, to be his first Champions League title along with his teammate
Serge Gnabry, another VfB Stuttgart academy product.
2020–24 Kimmich started the 2020–21 season by acquiring the number 6 shirt, after
Thiago Alcântara, who had worn it for seven years, departed for
Liverpool. In addition, he transitioned to the defensive midfielder position under coach
Hansi Flick. On 30 September 2020, he scored the winning goal in a 3–2 win over Borussia Dortmund in the
2020 DFL-Supercup. On 27 October, he netted the decisive goal in a 2–1 away victory over
Lokomotiv Moscow in the
2020–21 UEFA Champions League. On 23 August 2021, Kimmich signed a new contract with Bayern, keeping him at the club until 2025. On 24 January 2023, he scored a goal from a distance of 25 meters, to equalize the match 1–1 against
1. FC Köln in the 90th minute. On 28 October 2023, he received his first straight red card at senior level in the 4th minute, having previously been sent off with Stuttgart U19 in 2013, in a match which witnessed two red cards for the opponent and an 8–0 victory over
Darmstadt. On 17 April 2024, Kimmich scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over
Arsenal to secure a 3–2 aggregate win in the quarter-finals, helping Bayern into the semi-finals of the
2023–24 UEFA Champions League, reaching that stage for the first time since winning the title in 2019–20. In the latter half of the 2023–24 season, he played as a right-back under coach
Thomas Tuchel.
2025–present On 13 March 2025, Kimmich extended his contract with Bayern until 2029. Later that year, on 4 November, he reached his
100th Champions League appearance in a 2–1 away victory over Paris Saint-Germain. ==International career==