Daily Schmankerl: Bayern Munich planning on future with Alexander Nübel — for now; PSG’s Kylian Mbappe and Juventus’ Matthijs de Ligt to FC Barcelona?; Borussia Dortmund angry with Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel; and MORE!

Bayern planning for future with Nübel — for now (Florian Plettenberg via @iMiaSanMia)

Bayern Munich signed Alexander Nübel with the idea that he would replace Manuel Neuer at some point in the near-future.

To anyone who saw Neuer’s world class display against Benfica, however, it seems farfetched to think Neuer will be “done” any time soon. This obviously presents a quandary to the Bavarians, who seem to be waffling on a firm commitment to either player:

Bayern have told Alexander Nübel’s representatives that the club is still planning with him to become number one in Munich one day. Hasan Salihamidžić, who was responsible for the signing, has a good relationship with Nübel’s agent & speaks to him regularly.

Nübel’s loan with AS Monaco ends in 2023, but Neuer does not look like he will be ceding the position by the point. The good part for Bayern Munich is that Nübel was a free transfer from Schalke 04, so it is not as if they would necessarily be feeling a major hit in the pocketbook if they had to unload Nübel.

BVB unhappy with Tuchel over Haaland comments (Transfer Market Web)

Borussia Dortmund is not thrilled with its ex-coach and current Chelsea FC boss Thomas Tuchel over comments he made regarding star striker Erling Haaland:

Chelsea are among clubs to have shown an interest in the young Norwegian striker but Dortmund have shown their determination to keep Haaland for the time being at least.

Blues boss Tuchel has this week indicated that Chelsea were interested in signing Haaland and might make a move for him at some stage in the future.

German media quoted him as saying: “We talked about Erling Haaland a couple of times, including during the transfer window. But then it seemed absolutely unrealistic and not at all feasible. We talk about him regularly, of course, because he’s a fantastic player and clearly the defining figure at Dortmund, who is a big rival for us in the Champions League. I don’t think we’ve been really serious about it yet, but let’s see what will happen in the next few weeks.”

The Daily Mirror have subsequently picked up on German newspaper Bild reporting that Dortmund are unhappy about Tuchel’s comments about their star player.

ICYMI: The Weekend Warm-up Podcast — Season 1, Episode 22 (Bavarian Football Works)

Another week is in the books and Bayern Munich made it exciting as always.

The Bavarians crushed both Bayer Leverkusen (Bundesliga) and Benfica (Champions League), lost Alphonso Davies to a minor injury, saw Leon Goretzka get sick, and found out Julian Nagelsmann tested positive for COVID-19. So, yeah, some things definitely went down.

Here is what we have on tap for this episode:

• A quick recap of the Leverkusen and Benfica matches — and what it all means.
• The transfer rumors linking Chelsea FC’s Antonio Rüdiger and Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahovic to Bayern Munich.
• A glance at Robert Lewandowski’s future.
• A quick look at the upcoming slate of games that Bayern Munich will face — potentially without Julian Nagelsmann.

Barca to chase Mbappe? (Sport1)

Could FC Barcelona be plotting a sneaky move for Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe? It would be something if Barca snuck in an prevented Real Madrid from landing the Frenchman:

The financial problems at FC Barcelona are well known. It fits well into the picture that Kylian Mbappé will be available for a free transfer this summer.

So far it seemed almost a foregone conclusion that the PSG star would land at Real Madrid, but as the Spanish ace reports, Barca are now also getting involved.

The newspaper refers to sources from the club environment and writes that the Catalans have an ace up their sleeve. According to this, Barca is financially able to pay Mbappé a significantly higher bonus for his signature. Now it just remains to be clarified how one could offer a salary similar to that of the royal family.

De Ligt to leave Juve? (Transfer Market Web)

One-time Bayern Munich transfer target Matthijs de Ligt has been rumored to want to leave Juventus and now those whispers are getting louder and louder:

Matthijs de Ligt is not willing to continue in the situation that he is currently in at Juventus in Turin since he has lost the confidence of Massimiliano Allegrí and it is common to see him on the bench game after game.

His controversial agent, Mino Raiola, is already looking for solutions to this problem and the first he has found and the one that the Dutch likes the most is undoubtedly that of arriving at FC Barcelona, ​​a club that already wanted him two seasons ago when he finally decided to go to Turin.

According to the newspaper Sport, the Dutch footballer is willing to change of scene in the next transfer markets, however, his departure from the Bianconero team is very complicated since he has a termination clause of 150 million euros. De Ligt wants to leave and Mino Raiola is moving him among the big clubs in Europe and one of them is Barcelona, ​​a club he was about to join two seasons ago, but the problem is that the Catalan club is too economically depleted to be able to sign this footballer. Barca’s situation is not good at all, but Mino Raiola believes that he could manage to lower his price considerably since Juve also has financial problems and De Ligt is the highest paid of the squad.

Barca would make sense for De Ligt based on the Dutchman’s friendship with FC Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong. In retrospect, De Ligt’s career undoubtedly would have been better off if he signed with Bayern Munich.

Bavarian Podcast Works: Preview Show — Bayern Munich vs Hoffenheim (Bavarian Football Works)

It’s a little bit outdated because of the injury news, but we did a podcast preview on this game. Here are our talking points:

• How Bayern loanee Chris Richards stands to make an impression on the club bosses in this game.
• Tactical considerations for the lineup with Julian Nagelsmann set to miss the game.
• How the XI could look like, from the defense moving forward.
• Why it’s high time for the coach to start Jamal Musiala and give Leroy Sane some rest.
• Some final thoughts on what we want to see from the game.