Daily Schmankerl: Thiago not in Barca’s plans; Vidal’s injury makes transfer unlikely; and MORE!

FC Barcelona may no longer be interested in bringing back Thiago Alcantara (Mundo Deportivo)

One of the longstanding rumors swirling around Bayern Munich was that Thiago was campaigning for a return to Barcelona. Mundo Deportivo, however, threw some cold water on that potential move based on how much Thiago may cost.

Barça had received the information that, in his fourth season already in Munich, Thiago was weighing the possibility of changing scenes. He was a starter, but not indisputably, and he was motivated by the idea of ​​playing in another league. The possibility of returning to Barça, where his brother then played (but is now on loan to Inter) was attractive, given that apart from the competitive level of the team, he also had the incentive to return to what was his home and the city of his wife, with whom he recently had a son.

Meanwhile, Barça values ​​the quality of the Bayern midfielder, but does not contemplate signing him today. The market price (from €50-60 million, at least) militates against it.

Digging into it a little deeper, the report states that Thiago was also considering a return to Barcelona before he inked his latest contract extension, but also that Bayern’s signing of Leon Goretzka may have made Thiago once again think about Barcelona.

[Barcelona Technical Director] Robert [Fernandez] and Thiago talked and agreed to take some time before taking a step further to deal with adding him . . . Thiago signed a new contract with Bayern Munich until 2021. However, this year, Thiago still had Barca in his thoughts for professional reasons and for the personal reasons mentioned above. Additionally, Goretzka (23 years old), a central midfielder whose services Bayern have secured, threatens his status as a guaranteed starter.

Thiago looked pretty comfortable and played exceptionally well in a more defensive midfield role in the second leg against Real Madrid. It would be interesting to see if he would consider additional time at that position to extend his stay in Munich.

Caglar Soyuncu was allegedly a target of Bayern, but will sign with Arsenal (Goal.com)

SC Freiburg defender Caglar Soyuncu will reportedly sign with Arsenal instead of Bayern Munich.

The 21-year-old centre-back has impressed in the Bundesliga this season, having moved to Germany from the Turkish second-tier side (Altinordu) in 2016 for a fee of €2.65 million. Now, however, he is poised to make the big time, with Arsenal set to complete a swoop for the youngster. “Caglar Soyuncu set to join Arsenal,” Altinordu president Seyit Mehmet Ozkan confirmed at the International Football Economic Forum. “Arsenal demanded his youth information from us. We’ll earn from him, if he joins Arsenal. Bayern Munich wants him too, but he’s on the way to the Premier League.”

Caglar, we hardly knew ye...

Arturo Vidal’s injury very serious, diminishing his chances of leaving Bayern (Kicker via TZ)

Per a report by TZ, citing Kicker’s Thursday edition, Arturo Vidal’s knee injury was more serious than initially reported.

Arturo Vidal’s knee injury, which he had suffered during a training session about two and a half weeks ago and because of which he had to undergo surgery, was apparently more serious and dangerous than originally assumed . . .

For six weeks, the midfielder will now have to wear a supporting and relieving splint on the knee joint. However, his rehabilitation will extend to the preparations for the new season . . . Vidal’s injury now also makes the probability that Vidal stays at Bayern more likely . . . Chelsea in particular has expressed interest.

Insult to injury: the fire alarm went off the night after Bayern’s elimination (Bild)

Bayern Munich’s stars couldn’t even get a good night’s sleep after their bitter knockout at the hands of Real Madrid earlier this week. The fire alarm went off around 5am at the team’s hotel in Madrid, forcing them to get up and leave their rooms. It was a false alarm, naturally enough, and the players could go back to sleep soon afterward. It definitely was not the best trip to Madrid for our boys.

Coman is back to work on the ball with individual training (Bild)

As reported here late yesterday, Kingsley Coman’s return date could be as soon as May 12th. As the video shot by Bild’s Philipp Kessler shows, Coman is back and working with a ball.

Have to love the attitude of Niklas Süle (Twitter - @FCBayernEN)

Mats Hummels shows some skill in training (Twitter - @FCBayernEN)