Daily Schmankerl: Bayern Munich’s rumored offer to Ousmane Dembele revealed; Sasa Kalajdzic chased by Manchester United, PSG, Newcastle, Brighton, and others; Robert Lewandowski to take €118K/week pay cut to join FC Barcelona?; and MORE!

Bayern offering Dembele €18 million per season? (The Hard Tackle)

If this story is true, Bayern Munich could be poised to add another big salary to its payroll. According to this report, Bayern Munich is proposing a contract to FC Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele that would pay the Frenchman €18 million per season:

Bayern Munich will reportedly offer a contract worth €18 million per year to sign Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele in a Bosman move.

According to a report by French publication L’Equipe, Bayern Munich and Ousmane Dembele are in talks over a possible Bosman move in the summer transfer window. The Bundesliga champions are ready to offer the Barcelona forward a four-year contract worth €18 million per season.

You have to think that if this does happen then Serge Gnabry’s days at Bayern Munich are numbered...or maybe the Bavarians go outside the box and sell someone like Leroy Sane. That would seem unlikely at this stage, though.

Regardless of all of that, the links to Dembele are still very sketchy, so all of this should definitely be taken with a grain of salt — especially give the rumored salary requirement.

Kalajdzic has a bunch of suitors now (Sussex Live)

VfB Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic is becoming more and more popular by the day. Aside of Bayern Munich, Benfica, Newcastle United, Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, and Brighton & Hove Albion are all allegedly interested in the big fella:

VfB Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic is expected to leave the club this summer with reports claiming Bayern Munich have already made their move.

The 6ft 7in frontman has scored 24 goals in 57 games since joining the Bundesliga side in 2017 which has led to a number of top clubs queueing up to sign the 24-year-old when his contract expires this summer. Reports suggest the Austrian is on Brighton’s radar but the Seagulls are likely to face very stiff competition.

Benfica, Newcastle, Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United are also said to be among the admirers, with German news outlets Bild and Kicker reporting that Bayern Munich have already made contact with Kalajdzic’s representatives. The Stuttgart striker is being touted as a replacement for Robert Lewandowski if the Polish international leaves the Allianz Arena this summer.

It does seem, however, that Bayern Munich is the leader in the clubhouse at this stage.

Barca still Lewy’s priority despite other interest (@FabrizioRomano)

According to Fabrizio Romano, FC Barcelona is still Robert Lewandowski’s ideal destination despite alleged interest from clubs like Chelsea FC, Manchester United, Liverpool, and others:

According to reports captured by Sky, Lewandowski is willing to take a €118,000 per week pay cut to move to FC Barcelona:

Robert Lewandowski is willing to take a £100,000-a-week wage cut to leave Bayern Munich and join Barcelona, according to Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo. Lewandowski has already told the Bundesliga champions he intends to leave at the end of the season, despite being tied down at the Allianz Arena until 2023.

It has been claimed the Polish ace has already agreed a three-year contract at the Nou Camp and his agent Pini Zahavi is believed to be putting pressure on Bayern to negotiate with Barca imminently. According to Mundo Deportivo, Lewandowski is currently earning around £18.6m a year at Bayern. They state the striker is willing to sacrifice around £5.1m a year to join Barca.

Bavarian Podcast Works Season 4, Episode 32 (Bavarian Football Works)

Well, the bombshell dropped. Since our last podcast, Robert Lewandowski has officially confirmed that he wants to leave Bayern Munich this summer. This is obviously the biggest news of the week, but since we already covered the topic of potential replacements in previous podcasts, we here at BPW decided to take a different track.

In addition, please welcome our new podcaster — Teddy Son! He was gracious enough to hop in when another scheduling issue threatened to delay this episode further.

In this episode, INNN and Teddy discuss:

• Does the Bayern Munich board deserve blame for this Lewandowski mess?
• How the board has conducted self-sabotage in major contract negotiations since 2019.
• How the board forgot the human aspect of negotiations.
• Defending Hasan Salihamidzic and (some of) his work for the club.
• The strange vibes of Herbert Hainer and Oliver Kahn — too corporate for Bayern Munich?
• Why Lewandowski’s ugly contract saga leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
• Discussing alternatives: Does Stuttgart’s Sasa Kalajdzic make sense as a Lewy successor?
• Should Bayern Munich sell Lewandowski now, or keep him and lose him for free next summer?

Ziyech to United? (Sky)

There is no doubt that Chelsea is going to have to unload quite a few players during this summer transfer window. With Ziyech, Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Mason Mount all competing for time in the attack...something has to give:

Erik Ten Hag has been urged by Netherlands legend Marco Van Basten to sign Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech in the summer transfer window.

According to the Daily Mail, Ziyech and Ten Hag have previously worked together. The 29-year-old was pivotal in Ajax’s 2018 side that won the Eredivisie that year. He was then sold to Chelsea for £33m two years later.

Since signing for Chelsea, Ziyech has picked up a Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup- but has only made 12 Premier League starts this season.

Ziyech has 14 goals and 10 assists to his name in 81 appearances for Chelsea, while he managed 49 goals and 81 assists in 165 games for Ajax.

Mane to PSG? (@cfbayern)

It appears that Paris Saint-Germain is the leader of the pack to sign Liverpool’s Sadio Mane. Despite the links to Bayern Munich, Mane could be headed to France:

Pieper to Werder (@werderbremen_en)

Arminia Bielefeld defender Amos Pieper has signed with Werder Bremen:

Pieper is a player Bayern Munich reportedly had some interest in. Perhaps he can take the next step for his career at Werder Bremen.

Ha...okay, you got me. He’s probably hosed now.

(Apologies a technical issue prevented the Schmankerl from being released at its normal time slot)