Daily Schmankerl: Zidane to destroy Barca by signing Thiago Alcantara, Bayern trying to hijack Jude Bellingham to BVB, Bayern II gunning for the title and more!

Zidane scheming to destroy Barca by signing Thiago (Diario LOL)

“The French coach and the signing to liquidate the eternal rival!” Yikes, that sounds scary, and it is. According to Diario GOL, Zinedine Zidane, Florentino Pérez, and Sergio Ramos are determined to destroy Barcelona by signing “a friend of Messi’s” who is “practically going crazy to end up wearing white”: Bayern Munich’s will-away midfielder Thiago Alcantara.

It is, indeed, “Zidane’s master plan.” Thiago has suddenly had doubts about extending his contract with Bayern Munich, and although he is “Messi’s friend”™ he has no intention of rejoining a dysfunctional Barca.

The kicker to this story, though, is that Thiago “is not exactly a very expensive signing. Considering that he has not extended and his contract runs out next summer, Florentino could get him for a figure close to 40 million euros.”

Someone should notify Bayern Munich while Real figures out what to do with Luca Modric, James Rodriguez, and various other midfielders.

Opinions divided on possible Thiago departure (Sky Sport)

Bayern legend Lothar Matthäus aired his thoughts about the potential departure of Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara in his podcast on Sky.

“It’s a player’s right to say ‘no’ to FC Bayern and to transfer for a certain fee,” Matthäus said. “Thiago has done very much for Bayern Munich, but in my view he can be replaced.”

In Matthäus’s opinion, Bayern can deal with losing Thiago, “even though I always enjoyed seeing him play. However, I have not seen him in big games as I would have liked to.”

Matthäus thinks that Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz would be the obvious replacement for the Spanish maestro: ”Kai Havertz in central midfield for Thiago? That doesn’t look bad.” “If Thiago leaves,” he said, “FC Bayern will definitely find someone who is an equal or perhaps even better replacement at the positions that Thiago can play.”

“If they are planning with Havertz in the coming years,” Matthäus concluded, “it’s ok if Thiago wants to leave.”

Sky’s Torben Hoffmann, however, disagrees with Matthäus’s opinion of Havertzs. That’s a completely different position,” Hoffman argues. “If you give up Thiago — in my view one of the best footballers at FC Bayern — then you have to find an adequate replacement for his position.” Havertz is not that player in Hoffmann’s view, and Bayern has no one like Thiago currently who could fill his shoes. “He is an exceptional distributor of the ball, can always escape pressure and is stress resistant. Under Flick, he moreover has taken a leap forward defensively.”

Bayern II breaks Hermann Gerland’s record, gunning for the title! (AZ)

The Bayern Buam (that’s “boys” in Bavarian) are currently in FIRST PLACE in the 3.Liga. After beating city rival 1860 2-1 in their tenth consecutive game without a loss, Bayern II are making a run at the title!

Coach Sebastian Hoeness was extremely pleased to beat 1860: “On the one hand, because I was born in Munich and so I know the rivalry. On the other hand, it’s obviously in my blood from a familial standpoint. The club simply means so much to me,” he said. “For the fans that’s definitely awesome. That’s also why it was a really important victory today.”

Hoeness has moreover set a new record for Bayern II: having won 61 points in the 3.Liga, he has surpassed Hermann Gerland, who coached Bayern II to 59 points in the 2008/9 season. Hoeness said, “It obviously makes me incredible proud to break Hermann’s record. He has left a profound impression on me in the three years that I’ve now been here. I think he can deal with the fact we broken his record.”

Bayern II has three more games to play in a very, very tight title race. Braunschweig is tied on points but 2nd on goal difference. Würzburg in 3rd has 60 points, and Ingolstadt and Duisburg both have 57 points. Anything can happen, but Hoeness says, “If you are on top three matchdays before the end of the season, every athlete naturally wants to stay on top.”

Schaun ma mal!

Hernandez speaks German (AZ)

Far from joining PSG, Lucas Hernandez gave his first interview in German on FCBayernTV. He feels good in Munich and now also has a basic command of German. “German is very, very important for me. I’m learning not only the language, but also the culture,” Hernandez said. “It also obviously helps with integration.”

Hernandez is taking regular German lessons. “German is a very difficult language, but I’m learning step by step,” he said, switching to English in the last phrase.

His first German words? “Servus, wie geht’s?” Spoken like a Münchner!

Is Bayern planning to hijack Jude Bellingham transfer? (Kicker)

Earlier this week, the papers were reporting that Borussia Dortmund had agreed to personal terms with Birmingham City midfielder Jude Bellingham. The transfer fee was going to be somewhere between €20-25 million. However, Kicker reports that Bayern might be swooping in on the transfer since BVB have yet to agree with Birmingham on the transfer.

The 16 year old made 34 appearances for Birmingham in the English second division this season and is seen as the next big English talent following in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho.

Australia and New Zealand will host 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup (FIFA)

The FIFA Council voted on Wednesday for the host of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. After a few drop outs, the final two bids were between a joint-bid from Australia and New Zealand and a bid from Colombia.

The joint Australia-New Zealand bid won the vote with a final tally of 22 to 13.