Daily Schmankerl: Cengiz Ünder news; Mats Hummels spreads holiday cheer; a prediction for Bayern-Leipzig; and MORE!

Bayern considered a leader for Cengiz Ünder (Daily Mail)

Bayern Munich has reportedly moved ahead of Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal as the leader to acquire 21-year old Turkish winger Cengiz Ünder, but the AS Roma forward allegedly still prefers a move to the Premier League.

Bayern Munich are now leading the race to sign Roma’s £45million starlet Cengiz Under after Tottenham and Arsenal expressed an interest in the Turkish forward. The Bundesliga champions are keen for the 21-year-old to replace Arjen Robben, who is to leave the club at the end of the season. However, according to ESPN, the promising winger would prefer a move to the Premier League.

Spurs were reported to have already made a move for the talented attacker earlier this month but Roma are said to have rejected their £32million bid. With Spurs not quite meeting Roma’s valuation, the Serie A side are conscious that they would have to pay Under’s former club Istanbul Basaksehir 20 per cent of any transfer fee. Under has been in impressive form for Roma this season, who are currently seventh, having scored twice and set up four goals for his team-mates in the league.

Bayern vs. RB Leipzig: A Prediction (Bavarian Football Works)

The match-up between Die Roten and Die Roten Bullen holds a lot more weight after Borussia Dortmund’s shocking 2-1 defeat at the hands of Fortuna Düsseldorf yesterday. With a chance to cut BVB’s lead to just six points heading into Match Day 17 on Saturday, Bayern is in an excellent position to gain some ground.

The obstacles in front of Bayern, however, are not exactly easy to get by. Today, it is #TimoTime for Die Roten as Bayern faces a very potent RB Leipzig side led by Timo Werner and his very opinionated teammate, Yussuf Poulsen. Saturday, Die Roten will square off against a rejuvenated and dangerous Eintracht Frankfurt squad.

The biggest factor in today’s match will be whether Leipzig’s defense can find a way to stifle the surging Bayern offense. Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller have worked tremendously together of late and a potential winger tandem of Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry could create a lot of problems for the sometimes shaky Leipzig defense. With the likely duo of Leon Goretzka and Thiago Alcantara manning the double pivot (though Niko Kovač could opt to push Joshua Kimmich back to that role), Bayern should have no trouble controlling the midfield play, especially of Leipzig’s own key midfielder Kevin Kampl misses the match.

For its part, Dortmund will face Borussia Mönchengladbach this weekend, which could present another quality opportunity for Bayern to inch closer to the top of the table should it secure three points today.

Prediction: Bayern Munich 4, RB Leipzig 2

Mats Hummels delivers holiday cheer (@FCBayernUS)

Mats Hummels took some time from his schedule to play Santa Claus on the Bayern campus as he delivered holiday gifts to the youth teams and staff.

Mesut Özil allegedly prefers a longer stay in Arsenal (@cfbayern)

It has not been a banner year on any level for Mesut Özil, but the German star appears to prefer continuing his career with Arsenal rather than a potential fresh start with Inter Milan.