Daily Schmankerl: Liverpool getting serious on Bayern Munich’s Serge Gnabry?; Real Madrid out on Erling Haaland?; Manchester United pursuing Matthijs de Ligt; PSG to bring back Christopher Nkunku; and MORE!

Liverpool getting serious about Gnabry pursuit? (HITC)

Liverpool might be thinking about what life without Mo Salah could be like — and a possible solution to that issue could be Bayern Munich’s Serge Gnabry.

One person who is a big proponent of that is Rio Ferdinand:

Speculation is mounting that Liverpool want to bring a certain Serge Gnabry to Anfield. The Reds have already signed Luis Diaz for the left-hand flank, as competition for Sadio Mane. However, the Merseysiders might well be moving to sign a long-term replacement for Mohamed Salah now, too.

According to Sky Germany, Jurgen Klopp is interested in signing the Bayern Munich winger, who joined in 2017 for only £6.8 million. And if this goes through, Liverpool will be getting a ‘world class’ and ‘phenomenal’ talent, according to Rio Ferdinand.

But speaking live on BT Sport during analysis of a win over Lyon, Ferdinand waxed lyrical over the former Arsenal academy starlet.

He said: “His stats are phenomenal. He’s sitting in the top level, world class. He’s come to Germany and set the place on fire, he was absolutely stunning tonight. His decision making has been extraordinary. I’ll go as far as to say he’s one of the most improved players in football at the moment. I don’t think anyone’s upwards trajectory is as sharp as his.”

Nkunku back to PSG? (Sport1)

RB Leipzig Christopher Nkunku has made himself a very valuable commodity during this season and while Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann thinks the Frenchman could be too expensive to have in Bavaria, Paris Saint-Germain is not concerned about such trivial matters like having a budget:

Despite RB Leipzig’s mixed performance, Christopher Nkunku is having a strong season. He scored 17 goals in 29 games across all competitions and provided 13 assists. So it shouldn’t be surprising if various top clubs are trying to attract the 24-year-old. He himself wants to explore with Leipzig in the summer and consider how to proceed.

“Leipzig is a big club. It’s not the springboard club anymore. Two years ago we were in the semi-finals of the Champions League,” Nkunku told L’Équipe. Nevertheless, at the end of the season he will “sit down with the club, my agent and my relatives to make a decision.”

A return to Paris Saint-Germain is also possible, where he had gone through almost all youth departments. “I’m not closing any doors,” said Nkunku, whose contract with RB runs until 2024.

ICYMI: Bavarian Podcast Works: Weekend Warm-up Podcast Season 1, Episode 35 (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich will ramp back into action after the international break, but the news surrounding the squad did not stop as the team was out of action.

There was plenty to talk about this. Here is what we have on tap for this episode:

• A new segment to kick things off called “Five things we learned this week”
• Why Karl-Heinz Rummenigge’s statements about Niklas Süle and Marcel Sabitzer were unnecessary.
• Chelsea FC’s Andreas Christensen is Plan A for Bayern Munich to replace Süle and how there might not be a Plan B.
• Julian Nagelsmann’s outlook for where he sees Jamal Musiala playing in the future.
• Nagelsmann’s sleep talking exploits.
• Cobra Kai season four reviewed! What was great, where the missed, and why there could be cause to worry about where this is all going.

One of us! One of us! One of us! (Instagram — leon_goretzka)

When you think of great trios you might often think of Moe, Larry, and Curly (and/or Shemp — we do not acknowledge Joe or Curly Joe from The Three Stooges); Han, Luke, and Leia (Star Wars); McNulty, Bunk, and Kima (The Wire); or even Tony, Paulie, and Syl (The Sopranos).

But...did you ever picture the trio of me...Tom Adams...and Leon Goretzka???

Well, now you can! It appears that the three of us are huge Peaky Blinders fans:

Also, congrats to Tom on piloting the BFW Twitter account to over 25K followers...BY ORDER OF THE PEAKY BLINDERS!

Prem clubs on alert for Haaland, De Ligt to United? (Sky)

Sky Sports compiled reports from over the weekend and a couple had (loose) connections to Bayern Munich. First, Real Madrid has — allegedly — dropped out of the race for Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland. Second, Manchester United could be interested in Juventus center-back Matthijs de Ligt.

Both players have been linked to Bayern Munich:

Real Madrid have put Premier League clubs on red alert after dropping out of the race for Erling Haaland.

Manchester United are reportedly interested in signing Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus in the summer.

Manchester United, of course, once famously passed on De Ligt because they projected him to be fat at some point in his career.

I kid you not.

ICYMI: Bavarian Podcast Works: Postgame Show — Bayern Munich 3-2 RB Leipzig (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich dispatched RB Leipzig with a 3-2 victory in front of 10,000 fans at the Allianz Arena, gaining three valuable points in the process. Julian Nagelsmann chose to start his team in the same back-three setup that got a resounding win against Hertha Berlin last month, but the results were a little more mixed this time round. Leipzig, as the most in-form team in 2022, gave Bayern a real scare multiple times in the game, managing to equalize twice before an own goal from Gvardiol eventually gave all three points to the home side.

In this special two-person postgame analysis, Ineednoname and Schnitzel discuss:

• The lineup chosen by the coach, including a back-and-forth over the three man backline.
• The big problems with the defense at the moment — has Nagelsmann improved it at all?
• Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman as wingbacks, and whether that’s a good idea.
• The problem with ball progression and the attack at the moment.
• How many players have been extreme inconsistent this season.
• Why Nagelsmann doesn’t seem to want to sub players anymore.
• What do we want from a Bayern Munich coach?

Neuer’s injury (Bavarian Football Works)

We should have known better.

When word leaked last week that Manuel Neuer was dictating his own training regimen to the club, we should have known something was up. Of course, we all wanted to believe this was some New Age thought process to let a veteran star have direct input on his training schedule, but in reality, it was just a ruse — Neuer was likely already hurt and was going to tough out one more match to ensure he could play against RB Leipzig.

Don’t get me wrong...Bayern Munich — and Neuer — did exactly what they had to do to ensure this situation would stay under wraps, while also giving the Germany international a chance to face RB Leipzig.

Consider us all....hoodwinked!!