Kimmich shows raw talent is there

All the comparisons with Philipp Lahm have already been made, but the longer Joshua Kimmich plays well at right back for Germany, the longer they will continue.

While very few footballers are as intelligent as Lahm, Kimmich is as technical and as versatile as footballers come. And on Sunday night in Oslo, Kimmich showed the kind of pace and power that many full-backs, including Lahm, long for.

True judgement should be reserved for now, particularly given that Kimmich is only 21, but considering he has risen from second team to Germany international in a year, it seems at least one side of Germany's defense no longer has to worry about its future.

Defensively, Kimmich still has much to learn. Performances against Italy and France at Euro 2016 proved that, but in other games in that tournament and again in Oslo, the Bayern boy showed he is getting better. He can be overly eager to defend everything that comes near him, as was seen when his intuitive touch set up Joshua King in the first half.

Positionally, he can often be caught out when the opposition breaks quickly, but there's no denying he's improving. Head coach Joachim Löw said he was impressed with how Kimmich and fellow wing-back Jonas Hector played so high and how that helped pull Norway apart.

Playing at club level with Thomas Müller will no doubt have aided that development. Against Norway, the pair seemed on their own wavelength and were regularly in conversation. Müller's neat flick put Kimmich through after the right-back had already long started his run. His finish had the composure of a striker, but is also typical of Kimmich. Equipped with all the weapons that a player needs to impress in midfield, defense or out wide, he's a prototype that Löw is slowly harnessing.

Whether Carlo Ancelotti chooses to do the same will be intriguing. Kimmich rarely plays at right back for Bayern, but with both Lahm and Rafinha not getting any younger, this could be the season that the young man from the south west shows he's ready to be Germany's next right back. And from a Löw perspective it's important that he does indeed get more time in the right-back spot. His technical abilities are superb and if Pep Guardiola saw promise in him, then there's good reason to believe he can be the player Germany need him to be.

Quick, intuitive and developing rapidly, Kimmich doesn't need to fill Lahm's shoes. His own are just fine.