Daily Schmankerl: Angela Merkel meets Die Mannschaft and so many transfer rumors...Pavard! Mascarell! Digne!

Angela Merkel meets with Die Mannschaft

German Chancellor Angela Merkel took time from her busy schedule to visit with the boys of Die Mannschaft. In the pictures below, Merkel got to spend some quality time in a small group format with several Bayern Munich players including Thomas Müller, Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, and Leon Goretzka.

Getty Images

Getty Images

Honestly, these pics aren’t too dis-similar to the candid shots of our BFW Roundtables, except these have less booze and arguing.

Getty Images

Bayern is looking at Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Omar Mascarell (Marca)

In what would qualify as the most underwhelming move of the summer transfer window, Bayern Munich is said to taking a long, hard look at Omar Mascarell.

Coach Niko Kovac is moving from Eintracht Frankfurt to Bayern Munich this summer and he is keeping a close eye on Omar Mascarell, the Real Madrid defensive midfielder who was on loan in Frankfurt in the 2017/18 season.The 25-year-old put together an excellent season in the Bundesliga and in the German Cup, even if it was partially interrupted by injury.He was so good, in fact, that he is on the radar of Kovac’s new club.

But wait...there’s a Real Madrid connection here and we all should be supporting Los Blancos on this one to retain the rights to Mascarell! Diablos sí, ¡vete al Real Madrid!

Currently, his rights are owned by Eintracht Frankfurt after they paid one million euros to Real Madrid, however Los Blancos can buy him back for 4m euros between July 1 and July 15.Even if he isn’t repurchased by Real Madrid, he’d only have one year left on his current deal in Frankfurt and they might be tempted to sell.In addition to Bayern, Hoffenheim, Villarreal, Sevilla, Schalke and Borussia Dortmund have all also been monitoring his situation.

That’s okay, I’ll pass. What else is on the menu?

Alleged Bayern target Benjamin Pavard wants an exit from VfB Stuttgart (Bild)

Aaaaaah! Here we go with Benjamin Pavard again.

Stuttgart’s defensive ace Benjamin Pavard (22) speaks suddenly of farewell - and still this summer. The Frenchman leaves his remaining at VfB after the World Cup. “I cannot promise. Because if I promise to stay in Stuttgart and not do it then the fans in this world will not like me anymore. But I want to play Champions League, sure. I do not hide that either,” said the defender to the TV channel Sky.

So you are thinking, “Okay, maybe Pavard could fill a nice role here, especially if Jerome Boateng is sold....yeah, I could see that.”

Pavard: “My advisor and I will take our time. Now it’s time for the World Cup. We have our ideas. It’s about the premier class. We do not want to be pressured and decide quickly.”

“Wow, the kid has his head on straight, too. This all sounds promising.”

At VfB, they do not want to let Pavard go, the squad planning for the central defense is internally shut down. Noise is heard from club circles at a dizzying offer, which VfB would be willing to talk. That should start at over 60 million euros - that would be more than ten times the Pavard fee of 2016.

“60....million....euros? NEXT!”

Bayern looking at Barcelona’s Digne to replace Juan Bernat (Mundo Deportivo)

Mundo Deportivo picked up a report by Kicker, that has linked Lucas Digne as a potential replacement for Juan Bernat as backup to David Alaba.

The information adds that the defender reached the Camp Nou in 2016 from the PSG is a candidate of the Bavarian team to cover the eventual loss of former Valencian Juan Bernat in the Munich team and that to convince the club would be willing to pay 17 million euros in concept of transfer.

Barcelona, which paid Paris Saint-Germain 16.5M euros for Digne, is looking to at least break even here. Digne, a Frenchman, has a contract through 2021 and may be looking for a change of scenery.