Football
Mark Lovell, Bayern Munich blogger 7y

Kingsley Coman confident he will establish himself at Bayern Munich

Kingsley Coman has told Sky Germany he believes he can see off competition from veterans Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben to win a regular spot at Bayern Munich this season.

Coman, 21, has had to be content with only substitute appearances in both of Bayern's Bundesliga wins so far this season.

In the opener against Bayer Leverkusen, he came on for Ribery after 77 minutes with the Bundesliga champions already leading 3-1, while in Bremen on Saturday he replaced Robben after 64 minutes. Eight minutes later, Coman laid on the first goal for Robert Lewandowski in Bayern's 2-0 victory.

Robben, 33, and 34-year-old Ribery -- Bayern's longest-serving player following the retirement of Philipp Lahm -- are both entering the final year of their present deals with the Bundesliga champions.

Asked how long the "Robbery" duo can keep going, Coman said: "You never know what will happen. Both are still playing to a very high level. Perhaps they will both extend their contracts again, you never say for sure.

"But I know that the club is completely banking on me in the future. I am still young; both of the others are simply a little older.

"I have spoken to the Bayern hierarchy and therefore I stayed in Munich because they will give me the chance here. Of course, I have to take my chances, but my prospects are good."

Last season, Coman found first-team appearances harder to come by under Carlo Ancelotti, only starting 12 games, scoring two goals and providing a solitary assist, compared to 27 starts, 12 assists and six goals during an impressive debut season under former boss Pep Guardiola.

Despite struggling in his second season in Bavaria, the winger decided to make his two-year loan from Juventus permanent, amid reports Guardiola was interested in signing him for Manchester City.

"I didn't have a special relationship with Guardiola," Coman said. "We didn't speak a lot. However, it is correct I played and started more regularly as he placed his faith in me. At times, I also played because others were injured, but we didn't talk every day."

Asked whether he talks more often with Ancelotti, who handed him his league debut at PSG, he said: "Not really. The relationship is the same."

He said he feels he has improved, despite his lack of action last season, and rejected the suggestion he had made less effort.

"Not at all, I have always worked," he said. "The fact I played less allowed me to work more on the weak points in my game, like my heading or my finishing.

"I feel stronger than two years ago, even though you don't really see that as I don't have a huge amount of playing time."

He added: "Last year, for example, I understand entirely the coach's position, given my injuries. This year, I'm good physically, there's no problem. I'll see really if for me the coach respects statuses or not. But it's up to me to earn my place."

He did acknowledge that he had considered his position at the club at the end of last season.

"The only time I doubted was in May," he said. "I asked myself the question: 'Is staying at Bayern Munich the best thing to do? Wouldn't it be better to go to a smaller club to have more playing time and get back to my best?' I had a discussion with the club and I knew it was the right choice."

ESPN FC's France correspondent, Ian Holyman, contributed to this report.

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