Daily Schmankerl: Robert Lewandowski talks up Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann; Manuel Neuer is the GOAT; FC Barcelona wants Dani Olmo badly; Ousmane Dembele to Newcastle United?; and MORE!

Lewy touts Nagelsmann (Bundesliga.com)

Bayern Munich star striker Robert Lewandowski admired the way that Julian Nagelsmann handled himself when first joining the club — and was astounded at how well the new coach understood his roster.

“Not much has changed for me as a striker. Of course, you can’t do much new in terms of tactics in modern football, but a new coach, Julian, with his ideas and his path, we quickly understood what he wanted. When you play at the top level, you know what it means to play with a new line-up or system. It’s nothing new,” Lewandowski said. “Of course, it’s important that the coach says exactly what he wants from us or what he expects - and that is exactly what happened. He said straight away what he’s expecting, what direction we want to go in. We all understood that quickly, wanted to go along with it and just do our thing.”

While Nagelsmann might be out for the time being with COVID-19, his presence has still been felt as he has been in constant communication with the players and staff.

Half Manuel, Half Amazing? (@FCBayernEN)

David De Gea should accept that he’s not ever getting to Manuel Neuer’s level. As a reminder, he should check this out:

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 wants Olmo badly (Transfer Market Web)

FC Barcelona reportedly wants RB Leipzig attacker Dani Olmo in a bad way, but might not have the finances to make a deal happen:

The world of football has already echoed that Dani Olmo, Leipzig’s attacking midfielder, is one of the great objectives of FC Barcelona, who wants to take him in the winter market.

However, the arrival of the Spanish could be complicated in the face of the winter market, since Leipzig considers him an essential player and would like to have him until the end of the season.

Joan Laporta wants to get hold of him at all costs, as he has shown this summer with offers that have reached 75 million euros between fixed and variable. Despite this, let’s not forget that the current situation of the Barça club continues to be precarious and that leaves them in a complicated position.

Apparently, RB Leipzig would be willing to consider offers for 60 million euros during the winter market and FC Barcelona is not the only one who has Dani Olmo in their sights, as there are several teams behind him.

For what it is worth, it would be absurd if Olmo and Borussia Dortmund stud Erling Haaland both “sold” (Haaland has a release clause) for the same price next summer.

Schalke to keep Terodde (Sport1)

Schalke 04 feels good about it’s chances to keep Simon Terodde next season:

Simon Terodde will most likely stay with the Royal Blues in the next season. Rouven Schröder is optimistic that he will be able to keep the record scorer of the 2nd Bundesliga in Gelsenkirchen in the coming year.

“We have made arrangements that Simon will stay with us. That looks good, ”said the sports director of S04 on the future of the 33-year-old.

Simon Terodde has long since achieved cult status, especially among fans of the 2nd Bundesliga. In Germany’s second-highest division, the striker scored 153 goals in 263 games for a total of seven clubs, including Union Berlin, VfB Stuttgart and Hamburger SV.

ICYMI: Bavarian Podcast Works Flagship Show — (Bavarian Football Works)

Another week has gone by, and there’s even more Bayern Munich news to talk about. Of course the big one is how Joshua Kimmich was revealed to be unvaccinated, creating a massive rift in the Bayern fanbase. We can’t dedicate a whole podcast to that, but we did discuss it and a whole lot of other topics relevant to the club and German football at large.

In this episode, Samrin and Ineednoname discuss:

• Why El Clasico has lost its luster, and you should watch the Bundesliga instead.
• Why German fans don’t seem to hate each other like Real Madrid and Barcelona fans do.
• How the Bundesliga is marketed in India now, with ACTUAL PUNDITRY!
• Room to improve the marketing, especially in comparison to the Premier League.
• Samrin bullies INNN into remembering three Bielefeld/Mainz players.
• The Champions League disaster from Germany in Europe.
• A Haaland vs Lewandowski debate!
• How Thomas Muller fits Bayern like a glove.
• Joshua Kimmich’s vaccine decision (final third of the podcast).

Witsel drawing interest from Juve, Real Betis (Transfer Market Web)

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Axel Witsel is said to be drawing interest from both Juventus and Real Betis:

With his contract with Borussia Dortmund expiring at the end of the season, Axel Witsel, midfielder born in 1989 of the Belgian national team, would not be an exclusive idea of ​​Juventus to reinforce their midfielder department at low cost.

According to rumors coming from Spain, and reported by Fichajes.net, Real Betis would also have fallen on the player, who would like to sign Witsel on a free transfer in view of next season.

Dembele to be Newcastle’s first big splash? (Sport1)

Could Ousmane Dembele be ready to make the jump to England? If so, Newcastle United might be ready to hand him some stacks:

It could be a great transfer: As reported by several English media, Newcastle United is dealing with the signing of Barcelona star Ousmane Dembélé. According to information from Spox and Goal, the attacker might not be averse to a change.

The 24-year-old’s contract expires next summer, and talks about an extension have stalled, not least because of the disastrous financial situation at FC Barcelona. If the world champion and his club do not come to an agreement, the offensive player can negotiate freely with other clubs from January.

A situation that the Magpies want to take advantage of, because Dembele could earn a lot of money there: around 15 million euros annual salary are in the room, about five million more than at FC Barcelona.

Although there should also be an inaugural bonus of 15 million euros in the room, given the transfer free of charge, this should not be a serious problem for the second-bottom of the Premier League.

For FC Barcelona, ​​on the other hand, the Dembélé personality could ultimately prove to be a million dollar grave: the Catalans invested a proud 135 million euros in the wing runabout in the summer of 2017. But in four years, the 2018 world champion only scored 30 goals in 118 games across all competitions and missed 96 games due to injury.

ICYMI: Bavarian Podcast Works Postgame Show — Bayern 4, Hoffenheim 0 (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich danced their way past Hoffenheim in a fantastic performance; the game was over by the end of the first half as Serge Gnabry and Robert Lewandowski had scored by that time to give Bayern a 2-0 lead. Gnabry has been having a very productive season to date, scoring at a high rate. Lewandowski’s was a screamer which came courtesy of Thomas Müller outmuscling Chris Richards off the ball and setting up the Polish striker.

In the second half, goals from substitutes Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Kingsley Coman wrapped up the performance. Choupo-Moting is a deft finisher and tends to always scores these days when he comes on a sub. Coman’s goal was beautifully set up by Dayot Upamecano with a long range pass from the back.