Daily Schmankerl: Why Sergino Dest and Aaron Hickey shunned Bayern Munich; More Messi to Manchester City rumors; Liverpool eyeing two RB Leipzig defenders in January; and MORE!

Why Dest and Hickey didn’t choose Bayern (Sport1 and The 72)

Sergino Dest is the one that got away for some Bayern Munich fans as the United States international spurned an offer from the Bavarians over the summer. Dest eventually left Ajax for FC Barcelona and explained why:

“Why Barcelona and not Bayern? It wasn’t easy, but Barcelona is the club of my dreams,” admitted Dest. “That’s why I chose them. (FC Barcelona manager Ronald) Koeman wanted me personally too, so I thought they had a good plan for me. And now I’m playing, so I’m happy. I owe him this opportunity because you never know when something like this will come up again.”

Meanwhile, website “The 72” captured a report from Gazzetta dell Sport which detailed why Aaron Hickey chose Bologna instead of Bayern Munich or Celtic:

“Bayern are a great club, but Bologna is huge,” Hickey told Gazzetta dello Sport. “I am sure that I have chosen a great club. Playing in Serie A is like landing on the moon. It’s amazing.”

The highly-rated defender added: “Manchester City did not want to sign me, Celtic did.”

Appreciate the Frauen (@FCBfrauen)

The Bayern Munich Frauen are off to a sensational record of 10-0-0 to start this season:

Liverpool attempting to grab two RB Leipzig defenders? (Sky Sports)

Per one report, Liverpool might be eyeing both Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig for January transfers:

Liverpool are targeting a January double transfer swoop for RB Leipzig pair Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate, according to Bild. Jurgen Klopp is in need of defensive reinforcements after injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, with Upamecano regarded as one of Europe’s hottest young talents. Konate could join his teammate at Anfield as another center-back option.

Well, that would be something, eh?

Anyway Die Roten Bullen are rumored to be thinking about calling Croatian prospect Josko Gvardiol back from his loan to Dinamo Zagreb in January (per kicker). That would certainly need to happen if Jürgen Klopp somehow pilfered both Upamecano and Konate — which seems unlikely:

In September, RB Leipzig signed defender Josko Gvardiol (18) for 16 million euros from Dinamo Zagreb and immediately loaned it back to Croatia’s series champions. The trained central defender was actually not supposed to serve in Leipzig until the summer; But now the RB planners are considering getting him in winter for two reasons, the club has a corresponding option. On the one hand, there has recently been a great lack of staff at RB on the defensive. On the other hand, Gvardiol has developed well in the last few weeks and also made a good figure in the four Europa League games as a left-back.

Gvardiol is mostly known as a center-back, but — as noted — has been playing some left-back of late.

Fear the Wall is looking for writers! (Fear the Wall)

Our sister site, Fear the Wall, is looking for some volunteer writers as they expand their coverage of Borussia Dortmund and the Bundesliga. Site manager Sean Keyser writes:

Here at FTW, we strive to be the best English-language source for Borussia Dortmund-related news and analysis. While I’m very thankful for the team of writers we have right now, there just aren’t enough of us to adequately cover all the breaking news and provide as much analysis as I’d like. I have big hopes that this community can continue to grow and thrive, but in order to do so, we’re going to need a few more hands.

If you’re a Dortmund or Bundesliga fan and interested in taking a stab at blogging, check out the full post and get in touch with Sean at sbn.fearthewall@gmail.com!

More Messi to Man City chatter (Transfer Market Web)

Just yesterday we saw Sport Bild breakdown the likelihood of Paris Saint-Germain bringing in FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, but now we’ve got some additional rumblings that Manchester City wants in on the action:

Though Pep Guardiola dismissed such rumors, Manchester City, according to The Sun, are planning to try again signing 33-year-old star forward Leo Messi, ahead of next summer. Barcelona FC main man and 6-time Ballon d’Or winner has recently been linked to a PSG approach, on former teammate of his Neymar’s suggestion.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Messi-to-City clamoring (remember the 10-year plan?), but while both PSG and Manchester City can certainly afford the legend, the question is whether or not the Argentine star really want to make a move at this stage of his career? I guess that remains to be seen.

Warnock drags Stoke’s locker rooms (The Onside View)

Middlesbrough F.C. manager Neil Warnock had a major issue with Stoke City after his team’s 1-0 loss yesterday in the English Championship:

“Yeah, but can they do it on a cold, rainy night in Stoke with locker rooms that Neil Warnock wouldn’t keep animals in?”

Maybe Thomas Müller was on to something...