Daily Schmankerl: Bayern Munich loanee Michaël Cuisance longer stay at Marseille; What’s up with Dominik Szoboszlai?; How Manchester United botched Erling Haaland deal in 2018; FC Barcelona leads on Yousuf Demir; and MORE!

Cuisance wants to stay with OM (Get French Football News)

Bayern Munich loanee Michaël Cuisance thinks he has a future with Olympique Marseille and is now openly talking about the possibility of staying in France past this season.

“(Bayern Munich) are following, they are in contact with my agent. For me, they leave me alone a little, my desire is to focus at Marseille, not to think about Bayern yet, there are still a dozen matches to play and a place in Europe to get,” Cuisance said during a press conference. “My focus is Marseille. I have not had any conversations about the future. I am doing the maximum to get back to my level…I want to prove that I can stay here. I am with a coach who I like, who likes to attack. My wish is to stay at OM. I am very demanding of myself. This period affected me a lot. I had to deal with some situations off the pitch, I wasn’t completely focused on football.”

It feels like this move is going to happen given some of recent conjecture. What remains to be seen is if Bayern Munich budges on the €18 million fee. Given the financial state of everything, I’d think the Bavarians might have to take that numbers down to the neighborhood of €10-€13 million.

Alaba opens restaurant (Tz)

Bayern Munich defender David Alaba is looking to enter the restaurant business with a “fine dining bar” named after his sister. Alaba is seeking to open “DaRose” (Alaba’s younger sister’s name is Rose May) at a very desirable spot in Vienna:

According to consistent media reports, the restaurant has long been in the starting blocks - including a remarkable location. In future, “DaRose” will be part of the hip and new-fangled Nordbahnviertel in Leopoldstadt, located between the imposing Danube, the idyllic Augarten and the melancholy Praterstern, one of Vienna’s landmarks .

A fusion kitchen will be on the menu of “DaRose.” A mixture of Mediterranean and Singaporean cuisine through to steak. With the star soccer player behind the counter? No.

Opening in Leopoldstadt (Vienna) could be postponed due to Corona. Originally March 27 was planned for the gastro restart in the Alpine republic, but rising corona numbers — also in the Danube metropolis — could delay Alaba’s adventures for the time being.

I always hear cautionary tales of athletes getting hammered in the restaurant business, but something tells me that Alaba’s eventual new contract will allow him to take on a bit more risk with this venture.

ICYMI: Der Ausblick — Bayern Munich vs. VfB Stuttgart (Bavarian Football Works)

If you want a little audio preview of the game, well here you go!

Whither Szoboszlai? (BuLiNews.com)

Dominik Szoboszlai was one of the most high-profile transfers of the winter window, but the young Hungarian is having Fiete Arp-esque luck in recovering from his injury:

A targeted February return never materialized. After taking up light training early last month, Dominik Szoboszlai once again had to withdraw from the practice pitch with nagging abductor issues. The 20-year-old, whom Leipzig made the most expensive Hungarian international ever purchased during the January transfer window, has not been able to join team training for several weeks.

“With Dominik, it’s really quite difficult,” Nagelsmann told a group of assembled reporters at a Wednesday press conference, “I can’t exactly say when he’ll return. Accordingly, I can’t say what sort of role he can still play.”

Szoboszlai was expected to inject some life and energy into the RB Leipzig offense. The fact that this injury has lingered for so long is extremely troubling. Hopefully this ordeal does not have any long-term effects on the talented youngster.

How United botched its deal for Haaland (Sports Mole)

Fans of the Bundesliga certainly can rack up the LOLs when discussing some of Schalke 04’s gaffes over the past few years, but imagine if you were Manchester United — arguably the biggest brand in all of global football — and you botch a phone call that essentially costs you the best young player in the world?

Take a walk into the time machine and go back to 2018 when Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland was up for sale at Molde:

According to Football Insider, Murtough was due to ring Haaland’s former agent Jim Solbakken in August 2018 to finalise a £3m move, but the United chief rang at 9am UK time rather than 9am Norwegian time, which is what Molde were expecting.

With Scandinavia an hour ahead in time zones, the report claims that Salzburg had indeed called at 9am Norwegian time and got a deal over the line before United made contact later in the morning.

After comically missing out on the 20-year-old for a minimal fee nearly three years ago, it would likely take a bid in excess of over £100m if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is to land his compatriot in the summer transfer window.

If this was a one-off, it might be something to shrug off, but within that same time period, Manchester United also deemed Matthias de Ligt as having the potential to get chunky and passed on the Dutch defensive star.

Barca leads on Austrian Messi (Sky)

With Bayern Munich said to be interested in young Austrian Yousuf Demir, the Bavarians might have to outbid FC Barcelona among others for the rights to the Rapid Vienna phenom:

Barcelona are leading the queue to sign Rapid Vienna youngster Yousuf Demir, according to Marca. Barca are reportedly prepared to part with up to €8m (£6.5m) on the 17-year-old forward.

If you missed our feature on Demir, you should check it out.

Work fun (@aaaraagh)

I don’t know why, but as someone who engaged in some office hijinks back in my day, this made me crack up: