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Daily Schmankerl: The aftermath of Bayern Munich vs. Napoli; No movement yet on Leon Goretzka; Arsenal and Everton eyeing Schalke’s Matthew Hoppe?; Leon Bailey to Aston Villa; A Joao Felix for Paulo Dybala swap?; and MORE!

Well...that was something else.

FC Bayern Muenchen v SSC Napoli - Pre-Season Match Photo by Roland Krivic/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Die Folgen: Bayern’s ugly 3-0 loss to Napoli (Bavarian Football Works)

  • Bayern Munich did some nice things in the first half and some some good ideas. Precision was lacking, though. The veterans making their first appearance all looked pretty rusty.
  • The biggest news was Kingsley Coman leaving during the first half with an apparent injury to his ribs. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting came in and was extremely active — though went offside three times in the first half.
  • Benjamin Pavard and Josip Stanisic looked great as a pair of outside backs.
  • Aside of one mistake Leon Goretzka was solid.
  • Dayot Upamecano did some good things, but was sloppy on the ball and appeared to panic at times.
  • Jamal Musiala is just a problem for everyone. Give this kid a starting role on the wing.
  • The entire second unit was pretty dreadful overall. Chris Richards was — by far — the best of the lot. He did make a mistake on Napoli’s third goal, but he was trying to cover every inch of space given the lack of defensive support from Bright Arrey-Mbi and Bouna Sarr.
  • You could go down the line...Michael Cuisance, Malik Tillman, Armindo Sieb, Christopher Scott, Sarr, Omar Richards, etc. They were...not good. Torben Rhein had some moments, but it was not his best showing of the preseason either. What separated Rhein and Richards were their overall activity and ability to progress the ball forward effectively.
  • The coaching staff likely got to see enough of each young player to know what they have now...and that is what was most important from this four friendly stretch.
  • In the end, it’s just a loss in a friendly. There are people getting antsy with Julian Nagelsmann — and the manager will likely have a short leash with many fans. Just remember, though, he has not even rolled out his choice XI — and he still hasn’t realized Musiala is his best option at wing. Hopefully both of those things happen to kick off the season in the DFB-Pokal.

If you missed our Initial Reactions, Match Awards, Observations, or Postgame Podcast, give them a look or a listen:

No news on Goretzka just yet (@Plettigoal)

Per Sport1 journalist Florian Plettenberg, there is no update on the contract extension talks between Leon Goretzka and Bayern Munich:

Hoppe on the move? (@GrantWahl)

Journalist Grant Wahl says that Arsenal FC and Everton could be interested in Schalke 04 and USMNT striker Matthew Hoppe:

Juve eyes Felix if Dybala extension fails (Transfer Market Web)

Juventus could make a move for Atletico Madrid star Joao Felix if it cannot reach an accord with Paulo Dybala on an extension:

Juventus still optimistic regarding the renewal of Paulo Dybala, but, should they fail to continue the collaboration with the Argentine striker, they would be ready to invest in another striker.

Coming from Spain, and reported by the portal fichajes.net, Il Bianconeri might be interested in Joao Felix, striker born in 1999 from Atletico Madrid, team-mate of Cristiano Ronaldo in the national team. If Dybala were to be sold, Juve would go after the Lusitanian, which, however, is a longtime target of Manchester City.

Atletico Madrid signed him for a whooping €127.20M from Benfica in 2019, and now according to transfermarkt.com, he’s currently valued at €80M.

Australia is wild (@HolyCow_Inc)

Every time I see a video from Australia involving animals or insects, I never fail to be amazed:

Bavarian Podcast Works: Weekend Warm-up Episode 10 (Bavarian Football Works)

It was a big week on the news front for Bayern Munich.

There have been four winless preseason matches, but some intriguing news surrounding the team has some fans thinking more about the future than the present group of youngsters masquerading as the senior team.

On this episode we talk about:

  • The Sport1 report saying Timo Werner, Erling Haaland, and Federico Chiesa have all been discussed internally as future options at Bayern Munich.
  • Updates on Leon Goretzka and Corentin Tolisso.
  • The upcoming Robert Lewandowski documentary.
  • Some winners and losers from the preseason so far.

Bailey to bolt for Aston Villa (@FabrizioRomano)

It looks like Bayer Leverkusen start Leon Bailey is officially headed to Aston Villa:

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