Daily Schmankerl: Ivan Perisic likely to stay, Leipzig pursuing Haaland, Arsenal interested in Hinteregger, Champions League final in the NYC area?

RB Leipzig after RB Salzburg’s Erling Haaland (Bild)

What a shock! Could RB and RB make a deal that satisfies all parties, especially RB? Maybe!

Since Leipzig and Salzburg were detached from one another to satisfy regulators, it is not quite so simple to move talent (e.g. Naby Keita) from one team to the other. Serious money will be required to satisfy Salzburg.

Haaland has scored 23 goals for Salzburg this year, 7 of them in the Champions League. To put that into perspective that is more than Robert Lewandowski himself, and Haaland has 6 assists on top of that.

So how much would he cost? Hard to say: quotes range wildly. How greedy will Salzburg be, and what sort of discount might they give their Red Bull brethren? Bild claims Juventus is ready to pay €100m, but Leipzig might bid at a starting price of €60m. And in Julian Nagelsmann they have a coach who could cultivate Haaland into a world-class striker — if he is not already precisely that.

Champions League Final in New York City Jersey? (Morning Consult)

The Morning Consult has learned that UEFA is looking for a way to hold the 2024 Champions League Final in the United States, specifically in the New York City area. They report:

UEFA, the governing body of soccer in Europe, has informed potential commercial partners that it is trying to bring the 2024 UEFA Champions League Final to the United States, according to people familiar with the discussions. If the organization’s efforts are successful, it would be the first time the prestigious club championship is played outside of Europe.

One person “with direct knowledge” said that UEFA is targeting MetLife Stadium in New Jersey (home of the New York Giants and Jets) as the venue of choice. It would be the first time that a Champions League match would be held outside of Europe. This past summer, the Europa League final was held, controversially, in Baku, Azerbaijan, which compares favorably to East Rutherford, NJ, where MetLife is located.

Ivan Perisic optimistic of staying at Bayern Munich (FCBayern)

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge recently said that he could imagine signing Ivan Perisic beyond his one-year loan. In an interview published on the club’s official website — surely, a positive sign in and of itself, Perisic himself said he could imagine that, too:

I also think that is possible. Thus far everything has been positive in Munich, privately and professionally. For the time being, I have a loan contract for a year. Then there’s a purchase option. I’m going step by step, day to day. Then we’ll see.

Perisic has contributed three goals and two assists thus far across competitions and has made a favorable impression as a viable backup winger behind Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry.

Arsenal targets Eintracht’s Martin Hinteregger (The Sun)

“We’re hinter you,” says The Sun in one of the most embarrassingly bad sports-tabloid puns in recent memory. According to them, Hinteregger has serious suitors on the Island:

ARSENAL are reportedly set to battle West Ham for £22million-rated Frankfurt defender Martin Hinteregger in a desperate bid to stop shipping goals.

Hinteregger was on the field for Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Eintracht and the club was supposedly impressed by his part in Eintracht’s 5-1 win over Bayern. They’ll get to see him again soon enough when Eintracht comes to play in the second leg of their Europa League tie.

Germany Women’s team to play before 90,000 at Wembley

At exactly the same time that Bayern Munich hosts Borussia Dortmund, the German Frauen will be playing a major match in London. It might be a friendly, but it will be played in a sold-out Wembley Stadium before 90,000 spectators.

Bundesliga wins big in the Champions League (Kicker)

All four Bundesliga teams won their Champions League games this past matchday for the first time since the 2014/15 season. Leipzig beat Zenit 2-0, Dortmund beat Inter 3-2, Bayern beat Olympiacus 2-0, and Leverkusen beat Atletico 2-1.

That’s a major boon to the Bundesliga, adding 1,143 points to the league’s UEFA Coefficient. Adding in Gladbach’s 2-1 win over Roma, the Bundesliga gained 1.429 points, second only to the Premier League’s 1.571. Germany (7.714) thus is in third on UEFA’s country coefficient ranking, well ahead of Italy (6.071) and France (5.666) this season.