Daily Schmankerl: Krzysztof Piatek’s agent refutes Napoli report; Alphonso Davies helps Canada dominate; and MORE!

Krzysztof Piatek’s agent won’t name names and also refutes rumor of Napoli offer (MetroUK)

If Krzysztof Piatek keeps up his torrid pace for Genoa, the Pole’s popularity is only going to continue to surge. His agent, however, won’t say exactly which teams are interested and refuted yesterday’s report that Napoli offered Genoa €35M for the talented forward.

Chelsea have not made an formal offer for Genoa star Krzysztof Piatek, according to the striker’s agent. Piatek is Maurizio Sarri’s priority January transfer target after a sensational start to his season. With 13 goals in eight appearances this campaign, Piatek is the in-form goalscorer in Europe and is now being tracked by a host of big clubs.

Chelsea are credited with a serious interest, and after Napoli boss Aurelio De Laurentiis revealed his plans to sign the forward, Piatek’s agent confirmed many clubs had been in touch. ‘Many clubs have contacted us, but there has been no formal offer,’ Szymon Pacanowski told CalcioNapoli24. ‘Many clubs have contacted us over the last few weeks, but I won’t name them.

‘However, there has been no formal offer from any club, including Napoli. ‘His value has certainly risen over the three months in Serie A, but right now we are happy to remain at Genoa.’

Genoa are ready to slap a £60million asking price on Piatek in a bid to scare off potential suitors. The 23-year-old signed a four-year deal in the summer, but is being tracked by Juventus, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Chelsea are being tipped for a busy winter window as Sarri looks to add to his squad after a quiet summer of incomings.

Would Bayern throwdown €60M for Lewy 2.0? I’m not sure.

Alphonso Davies had two assists as Canada wrecked Dominica 5-0 (CBC)

Alphonso Davies will join Bayern Munich in Germany, but for now he is busy wreaking havoc on CONCACAF teams. Check out the highlight video below:

Die Folgen: Germany vs. France (Bavarian Football Works)

Germany had some ups and some downs, but still ultimately lost to 2-1 to France. Here are some quick hitters on the match:

• The formation and personnel changes were....interesting. It gave France a different look and Les Bleus seemed a little confused at how to handle Die Mannschaft. In the end, though, it is a worse result than Germany had against France just a few weeks ago when the teams played to a draw, so was it really progress?
• Timo Werner and Leroy Sané were menacing with their speed. Serge Gnabry was okay up top. I still think a mix of youth and veterans gets it done, not quite the “one or the other” approach that Joachim Low has taken. Give Werner and Sané some playmakers around them (Marco Reus? Thomas Muller?) and this could be the start of something.
• Still, the lack of a clinical finisher is what is haunting this team the most.
• Thilo Kehrer and Nico Schulz were overmatched. Schulz was at least game (though poor), while Kehrer just looked like he struggling to process the match as he was playing it. Give Philipp Max a chance Jogi.
• I thought Toni Kroos was excellent and Joshua Kimmich was decent, but it was not quite enough of a performance for me to say that Kimmich should make a permanent move to CDM for Die Mannschaft. Germany absolutely missed his presence out wide.
• In the end, Löw still can’t figure out how to best use the talent at his disposal. How much more do we need to see for the DFB to realize this is a major issue? It started with the friendlies before the World Cup and has not gotten any better.
• I wasn’t as down on the performance of Mats Hummels, Niklas Süle, and Matthias Ginter as some. I thought the trio performed admirably against a very tough foe. Kylian Mbappé is insanely fast and would give any center back a fit. Let’s just be realistic about that. Could it have been better? For sure, but I didn’t think it was the raging dumpster fire that some did.
• To give you perspective, Germany had NEVER lost six matches in a calendar year....until now.

If you missed our Observations from the match, please give them a look.

Bayern will face competition for Matthijs de Ligt, but maybe not from Barca (Marca)

FC Barcelona is kicking the tires on Matthijs de Ligt, but may want a more immediate solution as Ajax will reportedly only sell him for a very high fee during the winter transfer window.

Just two months after selling Yerry Mina and Marlon Santos for a combined total close to 40 million euros, Barcelona are on the lookout for centre-backs again in the winter market.

The man they like more than any other is Matthijs de Ligt but Ajax do not want to sell him in the middle of a season, while it would also incur a high fee that has not been budgeted for. Therefore, it seems they may have to find a more low cost alternative. Barcelona are on the lookout for experienced players coming towards the end of their contract or players who have a reasonable release clause.

Should Barca secure another center back prior to the summer, it could take them out of the running for de Ligt. (Maybe? Hopefully?)

Want to see some Bundesliga players fail at drawing the club logo? Here you go (Bundesliga - You Tube)

Leon Goretzka did a lot better than I would have.

A call for fan groups (BavarianFootballWorks.com)

We are trying something here at the Daily Schmankerl and need YOUR help. If you read my man Tommy Adams’ piece about his experience with the FCBNYC Fan Club (if you haven’t, SHAME ON YOU!), you could see how great the event was. So we want to highlight some of these wonderful groups that are out there globally and this is what we need from you:

• Name of the group
• Location
• Year founded
• Leadership (if you have people are kind of running the show)
• Meeting place
• Social media handles
• Pictures

I’d LOVE to be able to feature a different fan group every week this season. Maybe we can do it, maybe not...but only YOU can help decide the fate of this idea. Send your info to: barrelsportsblog@gmail.com