Daily Schmankerl: Manchester United’s plan for Jadon Sancho linked to Dortmund’s pursuit of Kai Havertz; Real Madrid talks defeat with Robert Lewandowski and Paul Pogba; Barcelona’s Mario Kart faction; Bayern Munich linked to Fabian Ruiz; and MORE!

The futures of Havertz and Sancho could be tied together (The Mirror)

There is a strong feeling that either Manchester United, Manchester City, or both will make a mega-bid for Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho next summer. If Sancho keeps up his current form, his value could be within the €150 million to €200 million range.

Funny enough, that would be a good amount to help BVB procure Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz. We already know that Marco Reus is putting the full-court press on Havertz and the 20-year-old counts Dortmund star Julian Brandt as one of his best friends.

Eight days ago I wrote this while covering how the recruiting scene looks with Germany’s national team:

Why wouldn’t Borussia Dortmund be interested in Havertz? The Germany international is 20, extremely skilled, and likely to be available next summer. The problem for Dortmund, of course, is the likelihood that a bidding war erupts.

There are numerous deep-pocketed clubs (aside of Bayern Munich), who are said to have an interest in Havertz. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool all allegedly will make at least an inquiry about Havertz.

Given some of the budgetary constraints it has, Dortmund might have some trouble gathering enough funds to put together a nine-figure proposal for the young star — unless it decides to sell Jadon Sancho, who will assuredly draw in a nine-figure transfer fee of his own.

Now, The Mirror is chiming in with the exact plan I speculated on last week:

Manchester United have been handed a boost in their pursuit of Jadon Sancho after reports Borussia Dortmund are already lining up a replacement. United have long been linked with £90m-rated England star Sancho, and latest reports from Germany say Dortmund could sell their prized asset to fund a swoop for Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz.

Former Manchester City youngster Sancho is fast becoming one of the world’s hottest transfer properties, with United believed to be heading a queue of clubs across Europe hoping to secure the 19-year-old’s signature. The teenager’s stock rose even further when he scored his first two goals for England in the 5-3 win over Kosovo on Tuesday.

First, that €100 million valuation is wishful thinking for Manchester United — the Red Devils will likely need to pony up much more than that. The Mirror also states that if Manchester United wants to ensure it lands Sancho, it needs to clinch a Champions League berth for next season. Regardless, things could fall into place for this move to actually go down.

As Frank the Tank once said, “WE CAN’T HAVE ANYONE FREAK OUT, OUT THERE! WE’VE GOT TO KEEP OUR COMPOSURE!”

A current look at that #BavarianMayhem2020 graphic:

Bayern chasing Ruiz (Daily Mail)

Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Liverpool are all in pursuit of Napoli midfielder Fabian Ruiz:

Liverpool have reportedly joined Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the race for Napoli star Fabian Ruiz. Ruiz emerged as one of Napoli’s key men last season after making 40 appearances in all competitions and scoring seven goals. According to Calciomercato.com, the 23-year-old’s displays have alerted him to four of Europe’s biggest clubs and drawn comparisons with Spain legend Xavi.

Need a little more info on Ruiz? Check this out:

Sane attends Kompany tribute (@cfbayern)

Bild reporter Christian Falk tweeted out that Leroy Sane attended the testimonial match for former Manchester City teammate Vincent Kompany, who is now the player-manager at Anderlecht. Sane also ditched his crutches for a bit as well:

Kyle Walker’s Instagram showed Sane hanging out and on his crutches:

Perez admits defeat in pursuit of Lewandowski and Pogba (Goal)

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez admitted that while his team did chase players like Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski and Manchester United’s Paul Pogba, it is difficult to acquire players so valued by their current clubs:

There are players who don’t get sold. We went for Lewandowski for several years and nothing happened because he has no clause and they [Bayern Munich] won’t sell him. There’s no way. And that’s happened with Pogba. When certain players can be sold, we can go for them.

Griezmann uses Mario Kart 8 to get to know Barca teammates (AS)

There are many ways to integrate into a new team, but 2018 World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann used Mario Kart 8 to get to know his new FC Barcelona teammates a little better:

Griezmann has established a close relationship with compatriot Ousmane Dembélé and it was the winger who encouraged the new signing to acquire a Nintendo Switch and join the internal Barça Mario Kart 8 group where he plays with Sergi Roberto, Carles Aleñá, Dembélé and Gerard Piqué with the gaming helping the striker forge better relationships with his teammates.

Nothing says team bonding like nailing a teammate with a turtle shell or blocking their vision with some ink. What character do you think Griezmann used?

Anyway, Bayern Munich’s own Mario Kart masters — Sebastian Rudy and Mats Hummels — are both long gone. There is no word if any other players have risen to a leadership position in the Mario Kart sect of the Bayern Munich locker room.

ICYMI: The latest podcast dropped (Bavarian Podcast Works)

Jake and Tom took a run at the last podcast after some technical difficulties and hit the following topics:

• After 90 Minutes: The boys tried to talk about Mainz as much as we can, but had six reasons why they couldn’t.
• After 90 Minutes — International: Jake and Tom can’t believe Jonathan Tah’s own goal happened in that 4-2 loss to the Dutch, but at least Germany is top of the table after topping Northern Ireland.
• #AskBPW: Jake calls Jose Mourinho “locker room cancer” and Tom wants to spend all of the club’s money at once.
• The Newsroom: Jake wonders if putting Karim Benzema on the FifPRO World XI makes it an illegitimate list and Tom doesn’t want the young players on the UCL roster (because he’s mean).

I’ll make my return to the podcast with Der Ausblick as Jake and I look at the upcoming battle with RB Leipzig. Stay tuned!