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Daily Schmankerl: Arsenal eyeing Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski; PSG’s Sergio Ramos to MLS?; Real Madrid prepping Kylian Mbappe offer, but PSG has an insane counter proposal; Jeremie Frimpong stunned by Bayern rumors; and MORE!

Robert Lewandowski to Arsenal would be rich, eh?

Arsenal FC v FC Bayern Muenchen - UEFA Champions League Round of 16: Second Leg Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Gunners also eyeing Lewy? (Caught Offside)

Earlier this week, we saw Manchester United linked to Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski, but now Arsenal (LOL) are allegedly ready to get into the action:

Arsenal may reportedly be considering an ambitious move for Bayern Munich goal machine Robert Lewandowski.

The Poland international is one of the best players in the world at the moment, having scored a stunning 333 goals in 362 games for Bayern in total, including a record of 39 in 33 appearances so far this season.

According to FourFourTwo, Arsenal are one of a few clubs interested in prising Lewandowski away from Germany, where he has been for nearly 12 years now. As seen in the tweet below, Lewandowski wants a new deal if he is to stay. He’s waiting for the club to offer a new deal, but nothing has arrived as of yet.

As stated previously, it feels like Lewandowski would go to Spain if he ever leaves Bayern Munich.

Ramos to MLS? (Sport1)

Sergio Ramos’ venture to Paris Saint-Germain has not exactly worked out just yet. The veteran has barely been healthy enough to play, but that is not stopping the LA Galaxy from being interested in the Spaniard:

Sergio Ramos has been anything but smooth since moving from Real Madrid to Paris Saint-Germain. The 35-year-old has only made five appearances for the French capital club this season. Numerous injuries had slowed the Spaniard down, and Ramos could be out for the rest of the season.

As Foot Mercato now reports, Los Angeles Galaxy is interested in the central defender. According to the report, there was even a first meeting between the two parties. Paris Saint-Germain are also not averse to letting Ramos go. The US transfer window opens in July.

ICYMI: Bavarian Podcast Works S4E25 (Bavarian Football Works)

It’s going to be another long few days without any midweek fixtures, but it sure is good to see Bayern Munich back to winning in dominant fashion. If you had asked me if I thought Bayern were capable of coming out of an Eintracht Frankfurt away game with a victory and a clean sheet, I would’ve scoffed at the notion two weeks ago. But now that it has happened, this team sure looks like they can grind out the wins again.

However, looking at the not-so-distant future, there are quite a few things the club needs to sort out: impending contract extensions, signing defensive reinforcements, analyzing the future of the Bayern midfield, and managing campus talents. This podcast would be covering these topics, with a few more bits and pieces added to give

  • Take-home points from the Eintracht game
  • Defensive situation and potential targets for the summer
  • Contract extensions and the “Big 3”
  • The curious case of chef Gnabry (who has been starving us for a while)
  • Marcel Sabitzer’s performances and areas where he must improve
  • Musiala and Wanner and their future at the club
  • The injury situation and players on the verge of a return

Fact checkers, you say? (Bavarian Football Works)

Pretty sure at least half of the BFW staff wanted to participate in this fact checking endeavor:

Dortmund add another young keeper (BuLiNews.com)

Borussia Dortmund will be adding Hertha Berlin goalkeeper Marcel Lotka during the summer transfer window:

Hertha BSC have confirmed that 20-year-old goalkeeper Marcel Lotka will leave the club for Borussia Dortmund in the summer.

Lotka will depart the German capital club as a free agent, when his contract expires at the end of the season.

The 20-year-old, who made his Bundesliga debut in Hertha’s 3-0 defeat to Freiburg last week, will link up with Dortmund’s second team for the 2022/23 season.

He has made a 11 appearances for Hertha’s reserves.

Madrid readies offer to Mbappe (Sport1)

Real Madrid is organizing itself financially for a run at Kylian Mbappe, but Paris Saint-Germain is reportedly ready to offer its young star a mega-deal:

Kylian Mbappé is one of the most talked about personalities in world football. The 23-year-old has yet to renew his contract with Paris Saint-Germain and looks set to leave on a free transfer next summer. But the French capital club is not giving up hope of being able to convince their homegrown team to stay.

In the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 between PSG and Real Madrid, the Parisian fans dedicated a banner to their idol: “De Bondy à Paris. Kylian, ton histoire s’écrit ici” (“From Bondy to Paris, Kylian, your history is written here”). Supporters are hoping for a whereabouts for the superstar, who has yet to decide on the next step in his career.

But PSG is also increasing the pressure on the most valuable footballer in the world: the club management allegedly made the 23-year-old an offer of one million euros net per week after his winning goal against Real Madrid, but Mbappé rejected it again.

Since one could not keep up with such an offer in Madrid, the 23-year-old was offered more than the usual 50% of the income from his image rights. Real should be ready to give up percentages, as Marca reports. In total, Mbappé is said to generate 25 million euros per year in income. The 2018 world champion has apparently not yet decided.

ICYMI: Bavarian Podcast Works: Weekend Warm-up Podcast Season 1, Episode 38 (Bavarian Football Works)

Another work week went into the books and, as always, Bayern Munich provided a lot of material for us to ponder.

A whole lot.

Somehow, Thomas Müller testing positive for COVID-19 again became one of the more normal stories of the week.

Here is what we have on tap for this episode:

  • Examining the report on Julian Nagelsmann’s desire to make a back-three based formation permanent.
  • Jamal Musiala’s transition to the central midfield.
  • The wild rumors surrounding Erling Haaland, Corentin Tolisso, and Serge Gnabry.
  • Bayern Munich’s begrudging evolution to becoming a selling club.
  • Marcel Sabitzer’s future is on shaky ground with Bayern Munich.
  • A guest appearance from Javi Martinez for a new segment called “Dong Watch”...okay, I’m kidding (no, we will not be discussing Javi’s bulge breakdown).
  • A quick take on “The Book of Boba Fett.”

Frimpong shocked by Bayern links (@Plettigoal)

Bayer Leverkusen right-back Jeremie Frimpong was surprised to see his name being linked to Bayern Munich:

Lewy named to BuLi Team of the Month (@WhoScored)

Robert Lewandowski was named to WhoScored.com’s Bundesliga Team of the Month:

Bavarian Podcast Works: Postgame Show — Eintracht Frankfurt 0-1 Bayern Munich (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich have finally played a good game! Shockingly, the performance came against Eintracht Frankfurt away, a fixture which has given the Bavarians some significant issues in the past. With multiple players including Thomas Muller still out, this could’ve been a chance for the Eagles to smash and grab three points from the Rekordmeister. Bayern didn’t let that happen though, and even managed to get a clean sheet for their efforts.

Here are our talking points from the game:

  • What was the formation Nagelsmann used today? Was it a 4-2-3-1 or something else?
  • The paradoxical nature of the defense today — setup vs performance.
  • A full midfield review, including Joshua Kimmich’s great game and a potential future between him and Musiala in a pivot.
  • So it turns out you don’t need 20 attackers to create chances. Who knew?
  • Robert Lewandowski’s role compared to usual + Kingsley Coman and Leroy Sane as attackers.
  • How Julian Nagelsmann can build on this performance in the coming games.
  • Why an unglamorous win was a step in the right direction for Bayern Munich.

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