Daily Schmankerl: Rummenigge negotiating deal for Perisic, Kovac catches COVID-19, Havertz breaks records, Suarez to Juve, Messi, and more!

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge bargaining with Inter for Perisic (Bild)

The latest news from Bild is that Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has now personally become involved in negotiations for Croatian winger Ivan “the Pretty Good” Perisic.

Ivan helped his own cause by scoring three goals and serving three assists in the Champions League, starting in Bayern’s critical quarterfinal and semifinal matches, scoring the crucial 2-1 goal in Bayern’s utter rout of FC Barcelona.

As anyone will tell you, what counts at Bayern is Leistung — performance — and Ivan has performed admirably. Hansi Flick also wants to keep the reliable Croatian as a no-fuss fourth option behind Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry, and Leroy Sané.

Now Bild reports that Rummenigge is using his knowledge of Italian to negotiate directly with his counterpart at Inter Milan from his vacation on the island of Sylt in Northern Germany.

The problem is Perisic’s salary and fee. Perisic supposedly earns €11 million per year at Inter, but the Italians are eager to be rid of him and the Bavarians eager to keep him. Some form of deal seems likely.

Niko Kovac contracts coronavirus (L’Equipe)

Bayern Munich’s former trainer Niko Kovac has presumably become the first coach in Ligue 1 to test positive for the coronavirus, COVID-19. Doctors are waiting to confirm the infection. Kovac’s new club Monaco announced that two members of their staff had tested positive. Besides Kovac, the other person infected is reportedly goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte.

Gute Besserung, Niko! We at BFW all hope Kovac makes a full recovery.

Kai Havertz transfers to Chelsea, becoming the most expensive German player ever (Transfermarkt)

It’s finally over: Bayer Leverkusen’s own Kai Havertz has at last completed his transfer to Chelsea after leaving the German national team early to finish his paperwork. Havertz’s transfer fee is reported to be €80 million and another €20 million in performance-based bonuses. English reports claim a fee of around €70 million, which would still make Havertz the most expensive German transfer of all time.

Havertz personally stands to earn a whopping €100 million over his five-year contract until 2025. That would make him the third-best-paid German player, just ahead of Manuel Neuer (€18 million per year) and just behind Mesut Özil (Arsenal, €20.5 million per year).

Suarez sinks teeth into deal with Juentus (BBC)

The BBC reports that Luis Suarez’s time with FC Barcelona may be at an end. They claim:

Suarez will move to Serie A on a free transfer — or perhaps a nominal fee — if he can negotiate his release from the Spanish giants.

The Uruguayan has a year to run on a contract he signed in 2016 but if he played 60% of games during 2020-21 it would be extended for another year.

Suarez would be happy to be paid off with one season’s wages.

Apparently, the move depends on passing a citizen test of some sort in Italy. Suarez is an Uruguayan, but his wife is Italian — that was enough for La Liga.

Suarez scored one of two consolation goals against Bayern Munich in Barca’s humiliating 8-2 Champions League loss. Last season, he scored 21 goals for Barcelona and provided 12 assists — second in both categories to Lionel Messi (25 goals, 21 assists).

If you haven’t watched the Kai Havertz story, you should

So that happened... GOAL’s “World Exclusive” on Messi (GOAL)

Lionel Messi won’t be leaving Barcelona this season after all. But he also explained his frustration with Josep Bartomeu’s incompetence:

“I believed that the club needed more young players, new players and I thought my time in Barcelona was over,” Messi said. “I felt very sorry because I always said that I wanted to finish my career here.”

Messi denied that the 8-2 result against Bayern made up his mind: “It did not come because of the Champions League result against Bayern, no — I had been thinking about the decision for a long time,” he said.

Bartomeu supposedly told Messi that he could “decide if I wanted to go or if I wanted to stay,” but “he did not keep his word.” So Messi found himself obliged to resort to the now legendary burofax: “Sending the burofax was making it official that I wanted to go and that I was free and the optional year — I was not going to use it and I wanted to go.”

Alas, he will see out the next season rather than go to court against his beloved Barca. But who knows what wonders next season will bring!