Germany: Five stars to watch out for in the future

#1 Joshua Kimmich

Joshua Kimmich

Age: 22, Position: Right Back, Club: Bayern Munich

The story so far:

Joshua Kimmich made some tough decisions early in his life. As an eighteen year old at VfB Sttuttgart, he wanted to move from the club's youth side to their second team that played in Germany's third league. His coaches disagreed, deeming him not strong enough to compete with senior players.

However the teenager had made up his mind to test himself against men. So he left for third tier side RB Leipzig, who were willing to offer him senior football. He made an immediate impact at Leipzig and ended up attracting interest from Bayern Munich who he joined two years later.

Since then his rise has been almost miraculous establishing himself as Phillip Lahm's successor and an indispensable part of the Bavarian side.

Joshua Kimmich was part of the national squad for Euro 2016 and started for Germany against Northern Ireland in their final group stage match of the Euro 2016. He had replaced Benedikt Hoewedes at the right back position.

Since that day he has remained Germany's undisputed first choice right back having played every minute for his country for 23 matches in a row.

Why he is special:

Unlike others in this list Joshua Kimmich is already a cornerstone for both his club and country. Originally a central midfielder who now plays as a right back, he has also played at right midfield and at centre back.

These experiences have only added to the versatility in his game. Equally comfortable attacking and defending, his smart positioning and reading of plays helps him shut down faster players on defense. On the attack Kimmich combines the vision of Phillip Lahm with the stealthy positioning of Thomas Muller, regularly getting into the right positions to make the right plays - be it scoring, creating or starting attacks.

The road ahead for him looks to be leading to nothing less than captaincy, having already worn the armband for the final 20 minutes of Germany's last World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan.

Trivia:

At the age of 22 Joshua Kimmich has already worn the captain's arm band for Germany.