MUNICH, 9 Dic. (dpa / EP) –
Bayern Munich footballer Joshua Kimmich will continue to be absent for the remainder of the year and will not play any games until 2022 due to a lung problem after having recovered from the coronavirus, the German club reported on Thursday.
“I am happy that my confinement caused by the coronavirus is over. I feel very well, but I still cannot train fully due to slight infiltrations in the lungs. I am looking forward to returning fully in January,” said the 26-year-old in a statement issued by Bayern.
The midfielder generated a great controversy in Germany when he recognized that he had not been vaccinated against the coronavirus because he wanted to wait to know more about the effects of the immunizer in the long term. Since then, he has spent about a month in quarantine, first as close contact with infected people and later after contracting the virus himself.
Now, despite testing negative, those lung problems will prevent Kimmich from reappearing against Mainz this Saturday. The midfielder will also miss the game in Stuttgart on December 14 and the clash three days later at home against Wolfsburg.
The footballer could return in Bayern’s first game in 2022, on 7 January, against Borussia Mönchengladbach, practically two months after the last time he was on the pitch, in the 2-1 victory against Freiburg on November 6th.