Daily Schmankerl: Chelsea wants Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland or does it?; The aftermath of Bayern Munich’s win over FC Düren; Jonas Hector ends Germany career; and MORE!

Another potential suitor for Haaland or is The Sun in the shade? (The Sun)

The ever-growing list of potential suitors for Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland might be adding another name. Or might not be. Who knows?

In what would be somewhat of a surprise, Chelsea is allegedly keen on brining in the Norway international...or is it? Per The Sun:

Chelsea are reportedly planning a stunning summer swoop for Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland.

This is where the fun starts, though. The Sun is basing its story on information reportedly obtained from transfer czar Fabrizio Romano. The Italian journalist, however, quickly went to Twitter to clarify his report:

This was the perfect opportunity for me to jump into the fray and hone my Falk skills:

I hope you all at least cracked a smile on my Flexxxxxx action. Anyway, this just goes to show that silly season never truly ends.

Die Folgen: Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win over FC Düren (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich’s heavily-rotated squad put forth a very solid effort in knocking off a spunky FC Düren side during DFB-Pokal action. Here are some quick hitters on the match:

• Let’s start with this: FC Düren was very smart and impressive as a squad. Manager Giuseppe Brunetto had his team well-prepared for Bayern Munich and really made the game entertaining with their relentless style of play. Kudos to FC Düren!
• Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting showed exactly why he was smart and Bavarian Football Works inspired pick-up. He was solid, capable, and showed his ability to be good enough for Robert Lewandowski to occasionally take a rest.
• More impressive than Choupo-Moting, however, was the collective effort of the Bavarian young guns. Jamal Musiala, Angelo Stiller, Armindo Sieb, Leon Dajaku, and Fiete Arp all really acquitted themselves nicely. It would have been nice to Arp get a little more time to get into the flow of the game, but his movement, vision, and instincts showed why he’s still considered a very good prospect. Daniels Ontuzans also made an appearance, but really wasn’t on the pitch long enough to really establish himself.
• Sieb likely has ligament damage to his ankle, but the kid was impressive before going down. He absolutely was inserting himself into the game and not just waiting for it to come to him.
• Musiala put on a show at times and was just super-impressive to say the least.
• Javi Martinez had some bounce back in his step yesterday. That was a really encouraging sign for the venerable veteran.
• Thomas Muller was confident, thorough, and precise on his penalty kick conversion.
• Bouna Sarr had his moments, but was a bit uneven on the day. His assist on Choupo-Moting’s first goal was a nice way to get acclimated to the Allianz Arena, though.
• Marc Roca started off a bit shaky, but settled in nicely and ended up having a formidable game.
• Bayern Munich got a bit lucky when Jerome Boateng’s first-half flop resulted in an unwarranted foul being called on FC Düren. The play would have surely been a goal without the whistle.
• Alexander Nübel didn’t have to do too much, but put forth a solid showing in the action that he had.
• The mass rotation was needed and achieved exactly what Hansi Flick wanted. It was yet another master stroke from the man who does not seem to miss.

We’ll look forward to a more normal lineup for the Arminia Bielefeld game and to see what wrinkles Flick might have ahead of Bayern Munich’s Champions League clash with Atletic Madrid next week. If you missed our Match Awards or Observations, give them a look:

Hector ends Germany career (@DFB_Team)

FC Köln’s Jonas Hector was considered a key piece to the 2018 World Cup squad, but has had trouble getting back into the international mix. With a long period of inactivity, Hector has now ended his international career:

Özil content in London despite offers (Transfer Market Web)

The sorry saga that is the relationship between Mesut Özil and Arsenal will seemingly never end. Despite offers to leave, Özil would rather remain a Gunner...for now:

Sidelined at Arsenal, former German international attacking midfielder Mesut Ozil (turning 32 today), according to Daily Express, turned down a €12m annual salary offer, submitted to him by Saudi side Al-Nasr. Still on a deal with Gunners until June 2021, the former Real Madrid playmaker is likely to part ways with North London giants as soon as possible, after seven-and-a-half seasons together.

I was as critical of Özil’s overall lethargy during the 2018 World Cup as anyone, but he was a great player at one point and probably still has enough to offer a club somewhere. It’s sad to see any talent wasted, especially for this long.

Klinsmann had a rough start to MLS career (ESPN)

Former Hertha Berlin prospect Jonathan Klinsmann — son of Jurgen — did not exactly have the best debut for the LA Galaxy in MLS:

Nick Lima scored twice, while Andres Rios and Tommy Thompson also had goals, as the San Jose Earthquakes were able to get back on track with a 4-0 road victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy in Jonathan Klinsmann’s goalkeeping debut for LA on Wednesday.

After giving up six goals in a defeat to the Timbers on Oct. 7, the Galaxy made a move from goalkeeper David Bingham to Klinsmann. The son of former Germany star and United States Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann stayed busy making seven saves in his MLS debut. Klinsmann was acquired by the Galaxy from the FC St. Gallen in the Swiss Super League on Aug. 20.

Upward and onward I suppose...