Daily Schmankerl: Tottenham entitled to compensation for Pochettino, Lewandowski’s agent blasts Leverkusen, Salihamidzic in the USA, and more!

Any bid for Pochettino must pass through Spurs’ boss Daniel Levy (The Telegraph)

Telegraph Sport claims to have learned that Tottenham Hotspur would be entitled to compensation from any club that wished to sign ex-coach Mauricio Pochettino. The terms of his release apparently stipulate that he is not a free agent: any attempt to sign him would thus involve Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.

That’s annoying news for the list of clubs currently considering Pochettino a candidate for current or (ahem) impending vacancies. First and foremost on our minds, of course, is Bayern Munich, but Arsenal now also has immediate need, and Manchester United’s slow danse macabre with Ole Gunnar Solskjær could end at any moment, not to mention Ernesto Valverde’s none-too-merry band in Barcelona.

The Telegraph writes,

Contrary to a report over the weekend, Pochettino would not have to pay back £12.5million in compensation, if he took another Premier League job before the end of the season.

Instead, it is understood Pochettino would have to give up the money he was still due if he accepted a job at another club and that club would have to pay compensation to Tottenham if they managed to strike an agreement with Levy.

The (probably) million-euro question, of course, is how long Tottenham’s right to compensation for Pochettino persists — until the end of the season? Until the end of his contract (2023)?

Best fans in the Bundesliga™ tell Sebastian Rode to “piss off” (Sport1)

The matchday officially ended on a fiery note as Eintracht Frankfurt suffered yet another dismal loss away to Mainz 05 Monday evening. The match itself was delayed about ten minutes because the Eintracht fans set off flares, smoke bombs, and even fired a rockets onto the pitch.

Former Bayern Munich player and now (after David Abraham’s demotion) captain Sebastian Rode tried to calm the fans down, but he was jeered by his own fans. After the head referee brought the teams back into the tunnel, Rode told one of the assistants, “They even told me ‘piss off!’”

Once the match began, the fans — this time both sides — refused to cheer in protest of the Monday game. The Mainz fans kept silent for exactly fifteen and a half minutes; Eintracht’s fans were mute for the entire first half. Martin Hinteregger captured the lead for Frankfurt in the 34th minute, but the party came to a crashing halt when Dominik Kohr was shown the red card for a last-man foul. Mainz scored twice in the second half to move up into 12th place.

Hasan Salihamidzic in Silicon Valley for DFB leadership trip (FCBayern.com)

Bayern Munich’s sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic visiting the San Francisco Bay Area this week with various sporting directors and managers from the first and 2.Bundesliga and representatives of the DFB for the DFB Academy’s inaugural leadership trip. The participants are traveling to Silicon Valley south of San Francisco to gain new insights from American sports franchises and companies and to discuss their potential for German soccer. Salihamidzic said,

I think it's good that we're dealing with the development of football in this way. Digital technologies are being used everywhere today. We'll see how the San Francisco 49ers do it in American football. We'll visit Facebook. So I hope to return with lots of impressions and insights. And because a team spirit always evolves on trips like this, I'm sure we'll sit down together as a group and exchange ideas.

Focuses of the trip will include digitalization, technology, trends, structures, and analysis solutions.

Hoeness has left the building — but is taking his desk with him (Bild)

New Bayern president Herbert Hainer took part in the club’s annual visit to fan clubs this past weekend. During his visit to the humorously named club “Die Preußen” (“the Prussians” — proverbial bogeymen to most Bavarians) in the vicinity of Münster, he revealed that he had moved into Uli Hoeness’ former office. He said:

I have taken over Uli’s office. His office was comfortably furnished. But he took his desk with him. It was a gift from his wife. Susi said to me, “I’d like to have that back.”

Hainer thus is Hasan Salihamidzic’s new neighbor at the club. Bild reports that Hoeness’ famous circle of wicker couches and chairs at Säbener Strasse is still there..

Franck thanks the fans for their well-wishes

Franck Ribery and Kevin-Prince Boateng seem to be inseparable at Fiorentina. In his latest post, Franck writes,

Thanks for all your messages. Now we have to stay united with the fans of Fiorentina and work hard to get back to getting good results.

I’ll do everything to get back on the pitch ready. I’ll come back stronger than ever. Like always.

Lewandowski’s agent Maik Barthel swats Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen cheekily offered Lewandowski a cure for his self-confessed goal-scoring addiction (obviously

We have already mentioned that the scouting division of Bayer Leverkusen viewed this striker as unfit for the Bundesliga and therefore distanced itself from signing him. But go on and keep laughing!

Dortmund fined €44,500 for epic pyro at Union Berlin

It was a hot time An der alten Försterei — Dortmund’s pyrotechnics almost burnt down the old Försterei, or at least looked like they might. Now the DFB has hit BVB with a massive fine for its fans’ antics, although it probably stings less than the 1-3 loss away to recently promoted Union.

Pyro, Bulgarian style

“That’s not pyro, now this is pyro,” says, um, Bulgarian-Dundee? Anyway, fans lit up an entire curve when CSKA Sofia hosted Ludogorets:

Bulgarian football is more interesting than one might think. Ludogorets have established themselves as the dominant force in Bulgarian football despite their young age. Only established 18 years ago, Ludogorets was bought by Bulgarian businessman Kiril Domuschiev in 2010. The introduction of money has ultimately rewarded them with 8 consecutive Bulgarian first division titles since 2011.

The team is located in the city of Razgrad, west of Sofia and closer to the Black Sea, and only has a population of 33,000 people. The change of guard has, naturally, caused tension between Ludogorets and the clubs from Sofia. Before Ludogorets arrival on the Bulgarian football scene, CSKA Sofia was considered the best team in Bulgaria. The team had limited success in the mid to late 1980s when they were able to reach the semi-finals in the Champions League. One of the players then included a young Hristo Stoichkov.

Traditional clubs versus newly bough clubs are a well-known phenomenon in modern football, and it explains the impressive pyro-show in the football-loving country of Bulgaria.

Everton bids €35m for Everton (Goal)

Or in British soccer-speak, “Everton keen on... Everton!” Seriously, though:

Everton are trying to sign Gremio star Everton in a deal worth around €35 million (£30m/$39m), according to reports.

The Premier League side are in talks with his agent Kia Joorabchian in London next week.

Everton might be interested in Everton, but no word on whether Everton reciprocates Everton’s interest.

Everton.