Daily Schmankerl: Bayern’s quest for young talent includes Frenkie de Jong and Giorgi Chakvetadze; plus MORE!

Bayern still among contenders for Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong (Sport Witness)

Frenkie de Jong is one of the more coveted, young midfielders in Europe and his list of potential suitors is a virtual who’s who of power clubs. Still, even with that heavy competition, Bayern is among the contenders for his services.

When clubs like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG, Barcelona and the Manchester pair get involved in a transfer chase then it’s usually time for Tottenham Hotspur to take a seat. That’s meant as no disrespect to the Premier League club, but when finances reach those high levels, and the associated wages also rise, it’s unlikely that Spurs would be able to compete or even want to. Despite all of that, and despite all those clubs being named, Tottenham continue to be listed as one of the clubs seriously interested in signing Frenkie de Jong from Ajax.

Bayern linked to 17-year old Georgian Giorgi Chakvetadze (Marca)

Bayern has allegedly already made an offer for Georgian Giorgi Chakvetadze and will battle the likes of FC Barcelona, Bournemouth, Tottenham Hotspur, and Shakthar Donetsk.

Who is Giorgi Chakvetadze?

Born in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia , Chakvetadze grew up in the academy of Dinamo Tbilisi, the most successful team in the country, and at the age of 17 he made the leap to the first team. Five goals and nine assists in his first season in the elite were enough for half of Europe to notice him. In addition, in case there were doubts, he excelled in the Eurocopa U17 of 2019, where he scored a goal. It was then when Bayern Munich, the first big one to dare to cross the line of the eye to the transfer, presented an offer of six million euros to Dinamo Tbilisi for him. Too late. From Belgium, the KAA Gent had closed the transfer in advance for only one and a half million euros.

As you can see below, Bayern will have some heavyweight competition if it wants to bid on Chakvetadze.

However, his talent and good performances in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League have not gone unnoticed and Barcelona is not the only team that follows the Georgian. From England clubs like Bournemouth or Tottenham follow him closely, also the Shakthar Donetsk of Ukraine or Bayern Munich itself.

Franck Ribery and family get The Simpsons treatment (@FranckRibery)

Arsenal may be the leader for Lille winger Pépé (The Times)

Bayern was previously linked with Lille winger Nicolas Pépé but Arsenal is likely in the driver’s seat for his services.

Arsenal will attempt to sign a forward in the January transfer window to boost their chances of returning to the Champions League next season. With third and fourth places in the Premier League within reach, the club have changed their position on mid-season signings since Danny Welbeck’s ankle injury, which is expected to rule him out for the rest of the season.

They have made Nicolas Pépé one of their main targets. The Lille winger has scored eight goals and made five assists in 13 league games this season. He is valued at about £27 million and Arsenal face competition for his acquisition from Tottenham Hotspur.

Renato Sanches registered an assist for Portugal against Poland (@FCBayernEN)

This Bundesliga You Tube video is great (Bundesliga - You Tube)

The Bundesliga does a great job with this “animated commentary” piece.

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

We want 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