Daily Schmankerl: Sancho hammered with €100k fine; Real considering Mourinho (please!); United interested in Werner; Badstuber in hot water

Real Madrid may rescue Bayern, Bundesliga from Mourinho temptation (Goal)

Various pundits have speculated that Bayern Munich could theoretically hire currently unemployed “Special One” José Mourinho if the club were to fire Niko Kovac. And Mourinho himself has coyly suggested he is eyeing a chance to coach in Germany, letting it be known that he is taking German lessons...

But Real Madrid might do us all a solid and keep José far away, if a report by Goal is to be believed:

Zinedine Zidane is entering must-win territory at Real Madrid, with Goal learning that the Frenchman has lost the trust of certain board members amid talk of a return to the Santiago Bernabeu for Jose Mourinho.

An iconic figure in the Spanish capital accepted an SOS call from the Blancos in March, with the decision taken to take the reins for a second time just a matter of months after bringing an initial spell as head coach to a close.

Now, wouldn’t that be special!

Manchester United eyeing Timo Werner as reinforcement (TEAMtalk)

Manchester United is currently in 14th place in the Premier League table. Their offense has not improved since Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez departed for Inter Milan. Now TEAMtalk claims that the club may make a push for RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner this summer.

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has reportedly stepped up his interest in signing German international hitman Timo Werner, may may be forced to wait until the summer.

RB Leipzig frontman Werner has become one of Europe’s most sought-after forwards and Solskjaer is keen to strengthen his forward line after allowing Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez join Inter Milan over the summer.

Werner finally extended his contract with Leipzig after quietly flirting with a transfer to Bayern Munich all summer, only to be spurned. It seems very unlikely that Bayern would pay for such an expensive backup, so perhaps a move to England would do him well.

Badstuber under investigation for insulting referee (Kicker)

Former Bayern defender Holger Badstuber is in hot water with the DFB. Badstuber was sent off for collecting two yellow cards in the 53rd minute of Stuttgart’s 0-1 loss to Holstein Kiel. After he was shown his second yellow, Badstuber angrily called the referee team “pussies” near the sidelines — in earshot of the television microphones.

Badstuber apologized via Twitter not long afterward:

Highly emotional game today. I felt treated unfairly and reacted wrongly. I’m sorry, and I apologize to everyone involved. I failed to live up to my function as a role model.

Head coach Tim Walter declined to say wither Badstuber would face an internal penalty at Stuttgart, and sporting director Sven Mislintat also expressed understanding for his outburst in the heat of the moment. But the DFB is now investigating the incident, making it likely that Badstuber will face more than the usual one-game suspension for an ejection.

Jadon Sancho fined €100,000 for unexcused absence after international break (AS)

Punctuality is important in sports... especially if you’re German. Jadon Sancho is the latest Golden Boy nominee to learn that lesson (*cough, cough* Alphonso Davies). As AS writes:

Jadon Sancho has been fined for turning up late for training after international duty with England. He was left out of the squad last weekend

According to Bild, Sancho didn’t show up for training with Dortmund after being away on international duty with England. The teenager gave no justifiable reason for turning up late so the club decided to fine him 100,000 euros. He was also omitted from the squad and wasn’t able to watch his team score a 1-0 win against Mönchengladbach.

Sancho supposedly earns just under €2m a year, so €100,000 may certainly sting a little. He’s not earning €10m a year... yet, after all.

Welcome to the Rangnickliga! (The Guardian)

The Guardian published an arresting interview with RB Leipzig’s sporting director and erstwhile coach Ralf Rangnick. They write,

This season’s Bundesliga has been nicknamed the “Rangnickliga,” as five teams in the top six positions have head coaches who learned their craft under him.

Rangnick described his philosophy as sporting director as follows:

The pillars of his sporting director role encompass everything on the football side: the first team, academy, medical set-up and recruitment. “We see it like a jigsaw with 500 pieces, and our role is to ensure that we have each piece available to help every player improve. We help every individual in the whole club develop and flourish.”

Today in WTF

Simple goals for #OLYFCB