The winger is ready to emulate fellow Frenchman Franck Ribery by staying in Bavaria for more than a decade
Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman says he wants to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Franck Ribery and stay at the club “for a long time”.
The France international has made 141 appearances for the Bavarian giants since joining from Juventus, initially on loan, in the summer of 2015.
A persistent ankle injury saw the 23-year-old miss the first half of last season, though he returned to fitness to help the club win the Bundesliga title and DFB-Pokal final.
Coman has been injury free so far this campaign, missing just four of Bayern’s 21 matches and filling the spot in the side vacated by fellow Frenchman Ribery, who left in the summer after 12 seasons with the German giants.
Reports last month suggested Premier League champions Manchester City were interested in Coman’s services.
Coman admits he would consider a transfer to another league in the future, but insists he has no imminent plans to move and wants to emulate Ribery by remaining at Bayern for the long term.
“I’ve been playing at Bayern for five years now – that’s almost half. In all seriousness, I’m only 23 so I have around 10 more years at the highest level ahead of me,” he told Bayern’s website.
“It’s too early to predict my whole career path. Of course I can picture myself staying 12 years like Franck, and then I’d still be young and have enough time to discover two or three new countries.
“I’m sure that I’ll stay at Bayern for a long time yet. The city is great, the club are very good, we’re winning trophies – we’re just missing the Champions League. Apart from the weather, I wouldn’t change a thing.”
As well as Ribery, Netherlands forward Arjen Robben also left Bayern in the summer after a trophy-laden decade at the club.
Coman says the duo are an inspiration for the current Bayern players, while admitting he is keen to repay the faith the club showed in him during his injury problems last season.
“I’ve played a lot of games since my last injury,” he added. “I feel the trust of the club, I feel like an important part of the team and I want to keep contributing more and more in the future, off the pitch too. I’m working as hard as possible.
“Franck and Arjen were here for over a decade, they had great careers. There’s more to that than just always playing well, which is hard enough. I hope that I’ll also have a great career in my own right.”
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