Daily Schmankerl: Ivan Rakitic gains more suitors; a Bayern Munich vs. Hertha Berlin prediction; and MORE!

Bayern, Inter gain more competitors for Rakitic (Football Italia)

FC Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic is drawing even more attention on the transfer market. In addition to Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United have joined the mix per a report out of Spain.

Inter face increasing competition for Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic, as now Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are in the running. According to Spanish paper Mundo Deportivo, the Croatia international’s contract situation at Camp Nou has alerted several clubs across Europe.

He has not been offered a new deal and is ready to move on after Barça signed Frenkie de Jong from Ajax for next season. Inter were the first to make a genuine approach to Rakitic, but the news of his availability is spreading fast.

Spanish newspaper Sport already stated on Friday that Bayern Munich are prepared to ‘pay a reasonable fee’ for the 30-year-old. Now Mundo Deportivo insists Manchester United and PSG are also in the race for Rakitic’s signature.

In addition, talkSPORT is reporting that Chelsea is also part of the action.

Bayern Munich have joined Chelsea in the race to sign Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic, according to reports. The Croat, who has spent four-and-a-half years with the Catalan giants, is concerned about his playing time due to the impending arrival of Ajax starlet Frenkie de Jong.

Meanwhile, beIN Sports is reporting that Bayern will at least match the offer that Inter Milan has put on the table for Rakitic.

The Bavarians are prepared to rival Inter Milan for the Croatian’s services, with Barca reportedly willing to listen to offers in excess of €50m ($57m, £44m).

Bayern vs. Hertha Berlin: A prediction (Bavarian Football Works)

Hertha Berlin gave the rest of the Bundesliga the blue print for how to play against Bayern back in September. Hertha didn’t just leak the strategy, though, it also gave the rest of the league a strong look at at why there was no reason to fear Bayern (at least at the time).

It has been a long time since September though, and this current day squad for Bayern has evolved a bit under Niko Kovac. The days of massive squad rotations and ignoring defensive responsibilities look like a thing of the past (at least of late).

It’s just a different mentality for Bayern, which also had a chance to exorcise the demons of Die Alte Dame a couple of weeks back in the DFB-Pokal as the Bavarians secured a 3-2 win over Hertha Berlin.

At the Allianz Arena, Bayern will assuredly be the favorite, despite Hertha Berlin being an absolute pest for Bayern to deal with this season. We would expect to see Thomas Muller, Franck Ribery, and Jerome Boateng at a minimum return to the starting XI, but it has been incredibly hard to read Kovac’s mind at times.

Hertha is not weaker than it was back in October and it has absolutely become a viable, strong team within the league. Bayern, however, is just that much better now as opposed to five months ago.

Prediction: Bayern Munich 3, Hertha Berlin 1

Bundesliga drops an interesting stat (@Bundesliga_EN)

Interesting...

Exactly (@RBLeipzig_EN)

Monday games are awful.