Daily Schmankerl: United pursuing Timo Werner; Messi thought Real would get Neymar; Germany-Italy legends part 3-3; Lewandowski chasing Heynckes

Manchester United possibly interested in Timo Werner (Sport Bild)

Sport Bild tuned in to a podcast hosted by Sunday Times and Daily Record journalist Duncan Castles with co-host Ian McGarry. According to them, Timo Werner is on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s wish-list along with a brace of Dembélés: Barca’s Ousmane and Lyon’s Moussa. Why not?

Timo Werner extended his contract in Leipzig until 2023 at the end of August, after he had been connected to a transfer FC Bayern for a long time. The German national player has been able to convince since then, and has already scored seven goals.

Ousmane meanwhile is probably out of United’s price range, while Moussa might be an option for (relatively) cheap.

Messi thought Neymar would go to Real Madrid (Daily Mail)

That latest big “what-if” making the rounds is stoked by none other than perennial Ballon d’Or finalist Lionel Messi, who told RAC1 that he was surprised that his former teammate ended up staying with PSG after a transfer back to Barcelona failed to materialize.

I thought that Neymar would join Real if he didn’t come to us. I also believed that Florentino Pérez and Real would do everything to sign him.

Well, they didn’t. And after all, PSG and Neymar are perfect for each other.

Entertaining duel of Germany and Italy legends ends 3-3 (DFB)

Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images

A little more than 6,500 spectators in Fürth, Germany, were treated to a remarkable legends match between Germany and Italy. At first, Italy committed two own goals on attacks by David Odonkor and Jürgen Klinsmann. But former Bayern man Luca Toni struck back with a clinical finish just inside the post past Roman Weidenfeller, and Francesco Totti made it 2-2 soon after. Damiano Tommasi gave Italy the lead with an unstoppable header, but Germany left with a draw in extra time when Philipp Wollscheid headed in a free kick.

Check out the full highlights here! (seriously, some great plays!)

Lewandowski chasing Heynckes for 3rd-highest BL scorer of all time

Robert Lewandowski finally tied Manfred Burgsmüller for 4th on the list of the Bundesliga's most prolific scorers. He is just seven goals behind Jupp Heynckes himself. It’ll take Lewy another 55 to catch up to the legendary Klaus Fischer — not outside the realm of possibility. But nobody, I mean, nobody, is going to touch Gerd Müller’s 365 Bundesliga goals.

You know know about this Twitter feed (@FootyFaceSwap)

You can thank me later.

Joshua Zirkzee scores one, assists one for the Netherlands U19

The international break has been good so far for the Bayern II stalwart.

Schweinsteiger’s constant companions

Bastian Schweinsteiger played no fewer than 500 games for Bayern Munich. Let that sink in. This chart shows which players shared the pitch with him more than any other. Far and away his most constant companion: fellow Bayern and Germany legend Philipp Lahm. These two played a whopping 445 games together. Thomas Müller was the next highest at 262.

The Zlatan of Liberty or something