Daily Schmankerl: No swap deal for Bayern Munich and Chelsea; Friendlies for Germany’s men and women announced; Chelsea and Manchester City to battle for David Alaba; Robert Lewandowski has battered the woodwork; and MORE!

No Pulisic-Coman swap deal (@cfbayern)

The smoke was there, but the fire apparently was not.

While Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman might have his eyes on a move to England at some point, it likely won’t be the this summer — even if Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City are eager to splash some cash.

In addition, even if Bayern Munich has interest in Christian Pulisic, the Bavarians won’t engage in a swap deal with Chelsea that would see Coman heading to London — at least according to Christian Falk and Fabrizio Romano anyway:

The respective situations of Coman and Pulisic will be interesting to watch play out. Bayern Munich badly wants to re-sign Coman, while Pulisic is battling for playing time during a period of his career where he needs to be on the pitch consistently.

Germany to play pre-Euro friendly against Latvia (DFB)

The DFB has scheduled Germany’s last friendly ahead of Euro 2020 (‘21). Following the end of the national team camp, the Germans will face off against Latvia in Düsseldorf. It’s not been decided yet if fans will be allowed into the stadium for the match.

Germany’s group for Euro 2020 (‘21) is a tough one with Hungary, Portugal, and France. It’s going to be difficult.

Germany Frauen schedule two friendlies for April (DFB)

The DFB has scheduled two friendlies to be played in the upcoming April international break for the Frauen. Both games will be played in Wiesbaden on April 10 and April 13 at the BRITA-Arena. The opponents for the matches haven’t been announced at this size.

Lewy’s pounding the woodwork (@WhoScored)

WhoScored.com has an amazing stat: Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski has struck the woodwork eight (8!) times this season. With his 32 goals, Lewandowski could already have tied Gerd Müller’s single-season record with just a little bit of luck:

Gortezka’s take on Lewy’s record chase (@Bundesliga_EN)

Bayern Munich star midfielder Leon Goretzka thinks Lewandowski could have a chance to catch Müller’s career record as well:

Chelsea and City all-in on Alaba (Daily Star)

It looks like Chelsea and Manchester City could be ready to tussle over Bayern Munich free agent David Alaba:

Premier League duo Chelsea and Manchester City are set for a transfer scrap over Bayern Munich ace David Alaba. While Spain has long been Alaba’s preferred destination - with Barcelona and Real Madrid at the front of the queue - his wage demands are a serious stumbling block. The two Spanish clubs are struggling financially amid the COVID pandemic and are unlikely to offer Alaba the £400,000-a-week contract he wants.

And that news has alerted the Premier League elite that he may be available come June, after all.Chelsea are very much in the hunt for a quality defender and their German coach Thomas Tuchel is a big admirer of Alaba. The Blues would be prepared to come up with a package agreeable to Alaba, who is represented by Israeli super-agent Pini Zahavi.

But Manchester City are watching developments closely and, having tried to buy the player last summer, are certain to make an offer. Although there is no way they would pay Alaba £400,000-a-week, as that would smash the Etihad pay-structure, the club’s lucrative bonus scheme would help bridge the difference.

Don’t kill the messenger (@90min_football)

Let’s get this out of the way...I am an HUGE fan of Borussia Dortmund phenom Erling Haaland. I think he is going to be the best player in the world and the most unstoppable force in football.

As Walter Sobchak once said, “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.”

(I’d link to the scene, but there are so many F bombs I don’t want anyone to get into trouble on a Monday morning).

Anyway, even someone who thinks as much of Haaland as I do, cannot endorse this:

It’s unclear whether this tweet means now or in the future, but Robert Lewandowski is simply at another level than anyone else in football at the moment. Sure, Haaland might — and probably will — get there at some point. The youngster, though, has some skills to refine over the next few years that Lewandowski has already mastered.

When Haaland does fine tune those areas of his game, however, the world needs to look out.