Daily Schmankerl: Man U wants Thiago & Lewandowski; a Coman asking price (!?!); Ajax starlet update; and MORE!!!

Manchester United wants to bring in Thiago Alcantara and Robert Lewandowski (The Independent)

Just yesterday, word hit that Manchester United was looking closely at Bayern Munich midfielder Arturo Vidal. Apparently, the Red Devils won’t be stopping at Vidal either, as Jose Mourinho may be plotting a full-scale raid on Die Roten’s roster.

If Bayern supposedly are willing to sell off an allegedly discontented Robert Lewandowski and also midfielder Thiago Alcantara, a player who may (or may not!) have one foot out the door already after being linked to Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, it would appear that Mourinho has Uli Hoeneß, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and Hasan Salihamidžić on speed-dial for some summer transfer window wheeling and dealing.

Manchester United are looking to kick-start a frustrating transfer window in the coming week, and are considering deals for Robert Lewandowski and Thiago Alcántara. Bayern Munich are open to selling the pair and, of the clubs contacted, United have both the need in the respective positions and enough money to pull off each deal.

United were previously on the cusp of signing Thiago before his last-minute change of mind sent him to Bayern after a plea from Pep Guardiola in 2013. He is currently understood to be waiting to see if former club Barcelona come in for him. Lewandowski is a player that Jose Mourinho has always admired, but also counts on interest of varying degrees from Real Madrid and Chelsea.

ESPN’s Mark Lovell thinks that Thiago is a more realistic move than Lewandowski for Manchester United, but also that Anthony Martial could be a chip to add to the bartering table.

Why stop with Vidal, Lewandowski, and Thiago? Manchester United needs more Bayern men! Heck, why stop with just Bayern’s current roster, go after their future stars as well.

Yes, it’s true; Manchester United is also pursuing Niko Kovač’s favorite Eintracht Frankfurt winger, Ante Rebić.

More Thiago news . . . and it sounds like he may really be headed out of Munich (CalcioMercato)

The rumors aligning Thiago with the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid, and FC Barcelona are one thing, but when reports surface that the Spaniard is not in Bayern’s plans, the potential for an exit seems to be a bit more real and significant.

According to the latest reports from German outlet Bild, Spanish midfielder Thiago Alcantara is not in the plans of new Bayern Munich head coach Nico Kovač. This comes amidst rumors that the Spaniard has been offered to a number of clubs, including Manchester City and Barcelona; with Manchester United also reportedly interest as they keep up their chase for a new center-midfield, after perhaps missing out on Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and with the potential loss of Paul Pogba.

Thiago has reportedly asked to leave Bayern, in favour of a move elsewhere. According to TransferMarkt, Thiago is valued at around €60 million, with a contract expiring in the summer of 2021. A return to Spain and Barcelona is perhaps the most likely move, with Thiago moving to Bayern from the Catalan club back in 2013 for around €27 million. The player wants to leave Bavaria, now a team must bid and try and free him from the Bundesliga.

In addition, Bola Sport added on to the aforementioned Bild report.

Thiago Alcantara reportedly chose to leave from Bayern Munich and return to FC Barcelona. The discourse of Thiago Alcantara’s purchase by Barcelona from Bayern Munich has become one of the hot issues in the summer of 2018. Hearing interest from the Blaugrana, Thiago Alcantara also reacted. German media Bild reported that the 27-year-old midfielder had already filed a request to FC Bayern for his release to Barcelona. However, Barcelona needs a lot of funds to get Alcantara. Other news circulating in Spain mentioned that FC Bayern put a price of 70 million euros (Rp 1.3 trillion) if Barcelona wants to repatriate their “missing child.”

With so many midfielders rostered, as many as three or four could leave Munich this summer. While tremendously skilled, Thiago’s injury history may just be a factor in the club determining it can afford to live without him.

Report: Bayern set an asking price of €50M for Kingsley Coman (CalcioMercato)

Although they seem to be nonsense to most Bayern fans, the Kingsley Coman to Arsenal rumors just will not go away.

According to the latest reports from beIN Sports, Bayern Munich have set their asking price for 22-year-old winger Kingsley Coman. This comes as Coman has been linked with a move to Arsenal, led by new head coach and successor to Coman’s compatriot Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery. Coman was born in Paris and spent 10 years at Paris Saint-Germain, including 9 as a youth player, before eventually moving to Serie A club Juventus in 2014.

After a relatively unsuccessful first year in Italy, where he made just 14 league appearances with Juventus, Coman was sent on loan to Bayern Munich in a 2-year deal. The loan cost €7 million to be spread over 2 installments and included an option to buy for an extra cost of €21 million for Bayern.

They pursued this offer and completed the deal officially in 2017. Now, Bayern have set a €50 million price-tag if Arsenal wish to sign him.

Stay with me for a second: It makes ZERO sense to sell off Coman at this stage of his career . . . unless the club wants to sell off a valuable asset like Coman to procure a large fee and a roster spot on the wing. If only Niko Kovač had a former player in mind, who could move in to the left wing as a building block for the future.

I’m not saying that’s the right move at all (put away your torches and pitchforks and don’t chase me out of town like I am Frankenstein!), I’m just saying if the Coman rumors are legit, a subsequent move for Ante Rebić may be the driving force behind them.

Matthijs de Ligt is going to be hard to get (De Telegraaf)

AFC Ajax is playing hardball when it comes to center-back prospect Matthijs de Ligt, who has been long rumored to have a place on Bayern’s “Most Wanted List.”

Clubs with an interest in Matthijs de Ligt receive the same answer. “Come back next year. Naturally, Davinson Sanchez has proven that it can become very difficult for a club to keep up. But we are now at a point where we say: boys, we do not sell. They are 19, 20 years old.”

More specifically, the Eredivisie club’s sporting director, Marc Overmars, said this:

Frenkie de Jong, Donny van de Beek and Matthijs de Ligt are not for sale as far as we are concerned. No, not even for absurd amounts. Let them play 40 matches for Ajax this season.

Okay, well back to the negotiating table we go.

Thomas Müller hosted a charity golf out and, no, Man U was not working to grab his driver (@esmuellert_)

Thomas Müller’s charity golf outing went down yesterday and the Bayern star had a couple of friends to help raise the star power.

In addition to having fun with former teammate Philipp Lahm and professional golfer Marcel Siem, Müller seemed to just have fun being around the people at the event.

I had a lot of fun today with the kids at the charity golf Tournament for my Heart Project YoungWings ⛳️ #esmuellert #golf #charity #youngwings

Young Wings is an organization dedicated to helping young people cope with the loss of a parent. If you would like to support the charity, check their website here.