Daily Schmankerl: Nagelsmann confirms talk with Erling Haaland; Real Madrid to bid €80m for Timo Werner?

Julian Nagelsmann admits conversation with Erling Haaland

RB Salzburg’s Norwegian superstar Erling Haaland is going to be a hot commodity on the transfer market this winter and/or summer. One of the clubs’ that he’s been heavily linked with in recent weeks is Salzburg’s sister club RB Leipzig. Now, Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann is admitting that the two have had a discussion recently.

“I have tried to tell him in good English what my idea of football is,” Nagelsmann said. “I think it went quite well, that it was a good conversation.”

Now that RB Salzburg have been knocked out of the Champions League, could Haaland make a winter move to keep his dream alive? The report also states that Haaland visited Borussia Dortmund during the week.

Is this, as the English say, “tapping up”? Who knows!

Bayern legends head to Brazil

Bayern Munich’s legends team are headed to Brazil for a mini-tournament on Sunday with São Paulo, Barcelona, and Borussia Dortmund as part of the HYLO Legends Tour Brasil19. They will play games with two 25-minutes halves before a third place game and a final.

On Saturday, the legends will watch the Bayern vs Werder Bremen match with the local supporters group.

Giovane Élber talked about the trip:

We’re really looking forward to it and pumped up for the games. Everyone knows that football is loved in Brazil like few other places in the world. We’ll do our best to give the fans a great show with good games on behalf of FC Bayern and the Bundesliga. And of course, we want to win the tournament. Mia san mia also applies in Brazil.

The Squad: Jörg Butt, Tom Starke, Lúcio, Martín Demichelis, Daniel Van Buyten, Hans Pflügler, Marcel Witeczek, Samuel Kuffour, Zé Roberto, Bernado, Ivica Olić, Zvjezdan Misimović, Markus Schupp, Andreas Ottl, Michael Sternkopf, Miroslav Klose, Giovane Élber, Paulo Sérgio and Luca Toni

Real Madrid plotting a €80m move for Timo Werner (Don Balon)

The Don is back with a semi-plausible story! According Don Balon, Real Madrid’s Florentino Perez is already thinking about his next striker, because Luka Jovic is apparently DOA in Spain, and Zinedine Zidane doesn’t like anyone else already there either. Ergo, the next shiny toy from Germany is RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner, who has played excellently this season for Julian Nagelsmann, scoring 20 goals and 9 assists in 22 games. He is the only player to come close to Robert Lewandowski’s numbers in front of goal in the Bundesliga this season.

Werner, of course, extended his contract with Leipzig in August after it became clear that Bayern Munich would not sign him. His current contract runs through 2023, so Leipzig could indeed charge a hefty fee for him. All the leverage is there’s.

Here’s where things get interesting: if you happened to start reading this Schmankerl at the beginning, you will have read how seriously interested RB Leipzig is in Erling Haaland, RB Salzburg’s revelation at striker. Haaland is purportedly interested in a move to the Bundesliga, and his numbers are impressive — just the combination of goals and assists that RB likes. What if — just hypothetically — Leipzig sold Werner and bought Haaland? That might work...

Of course, it would then be up to Timo to ensure he doesn’t end up as the newest Luka Jovic the moment he’s a “Galactico.”

Bayern Frauen get that win with a last-minute goal by Melanie Leupolz

Nice way to end the Hinrunde! The Frauen beat Eintracht 3-2 with a second-to-last minute goal by Leupolz. Read Phil’s recap with highlights here!

Giulia Gwinn and Niklas Süle help give gifts to needy children

Giulia Gwinn and Niklas Süle joined a handful of youth players from the FC Bayern Campus to help give presents away to needed children in Munich in conjunction with the charitable association Münchner Tafel. Süle said,

The action today means very much to me. Many children are disadvantaged and do not have the possibility to receive lots of gifts. I think it’s fantastic that FC Bayern took part here and made a statement, and I’m very happy to be part of it. I was really happy to be able to hand gifts to the children.

Bayern’s eSports team is ready for their opener!

Bayern’s eSport gamers are ready to play! They have their opening game today at 6:30 ET / 12:30 CET.