Weekend Warm-up: Bayern Munich’s sees first bid for Konrad Laimer rejected by RB Leipzig; Will talent be enough for Bayern Munich next season?; Throwing it back to Pearl Jam; and MORE!

According to a report from FussballTransfers.com, Bayern Munich has submitted an opening bid to RB Leipzig for midfielder Konrad Laimer.

Laimer, of course, is a player that Julian Nagelsmann is rumored to desperately want in Bavaria. The proposal from Bayern Munich was soundly rejected by Die Roten Bullen, who might not be too keen to sell off one of its key players to a league rival after losing Dayot Upamecano, Marcel Sabitzer, and Nagelsmann to The Rekordmeister last season:

According to FT information, FC Bayern has now submitted a concrete offer to RB Leipzig. The Munich team is willing to pay 22 million euros plus a further two million in performance-related bonuses.

The response from Leipzig was sobering from the point of view of the record champions. According to FT information, RB managing director Oliver Mintzlaff and his comrades-in- arms refused and are said to be demanding at least 30 million euros for a Laimer transfer to the Isar. So Bayern has to improve. The exit clause, which has now expired, was 35 million euros.

Bild (as captured by @iMiaSanMia) added more context to the story:

Konrad Laimer’s €35m release clause expired yesterday. Now Bayern and Leipzig are negotiating a fee. RBL want €30m while Bayern don’t want to exceed the €20m mark for now. Laimer does not want to extend in Leipzig and is open to a move to a new challenge in Munich

To be fair, both clubs have a leg to stand on with this. Laimer’s deal will end after this season, so Bayern Munich should not feel like it needs to pay top euro for the midfielder. RB Leipzig, though, does not want to lose a key player — especially to a league rival — for less than what it considers to be market value.

The waiting game will ensue, but even if a deal is reached at some point, it remains to be seen how Laimer would fit in at Bayern Munich. Would Nagelsmann deploy a 4-3-3 with Laimer as a keystone defensive midfielder flanked by Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka? Would he replace Goretzka in a 4-2-3-1 or a 3-4-2-1? Or...would he just end up a bench player to be used in case of emergency when Kimmich or Goretzka eventually get hurt?

All of that remains unclear at this stage, but we at least know that ideas are being exchanged and the Bavarians are seeking to get a deal done.

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Talent won’t be a problem next season, but can it all work together?

The transfer market is still extremely hot for Bayern Munich.

The current roster could — and likely will — change a bit more before September, but if you just scan the club’s list of personnel, you might come away awestruck.

Robert Lewandowski, Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller, Sadio Mané, Leroy Sané, Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala, Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Lucas Hernandez, Dayot Upamecano...you really could keep going on and on.

This current list of Bayern Munich players makes for an extremely loaded roster.

With all of that talent, however, comes a great responsibility on the manager to make it all function together. Will Julian Nagelsmann be able to push all of the right buttons to keep his boys happy? This could prove to be a slippery slope for the manager.

In addition to keeping his players engaged, Nagelsmann has also been tasked with trying to keep the squad aligned with two mega-talents a bit unhappy: Lewandowski and Gnabry.

Lewandowski wants to leave, but could be “forced” to play out the rest of his contract should the club decide FC Barcelona’s proposals continue to fall short of what they want. As for Gnabry, the Germany international is being offered a massive salary, but probably not much of a guarantee of playing time.

Both situations are potentially volatile, but Lewandowski’s is more explosive because of his past history of diva-like behavior.

What happens with those aforementioned star players in limbo will have an absolutely enormous impact on how this team performs, but even if they leave, the Bavarians will still be overflowing with talent (even if the squad will likely be missing that central figure in the attack). While Gnabry is a terrific player, it is far easier to replace him rather than Lewandowski.

There are still other smaller moves that could happen as well, Chris Richards, Joshua Zirkzee, and Bouna Sarr are all allegedly up for sale, but even subtracting those three players won’t dent the squad’s overall talent level too much.

In addition, Bayern Munich is still in play for RB Leipzig’s Laimer (as noted above) and potentially another center-back. Any way you look at this...even with the potential player movement...Bayern Munich will be stacked.

For Nagelsmann, finding a way to make it all work together seamlessly will surely be easier said than done. The young manager’s plan for a formation and his proclivity to tinker with his alignments will also play a role in how the talent on the roster is used. Bayern Munich fans will have to trust that Nagelsmann will be able to unlock the magic formula to meld all of the ability on the squad sheet together — and keep it all happy enough to stay cohesive for a run at the Champions League title.

Can Nagelsmann make it all gel? There are some fans, who have their doubts (no names mentioned, but you might see them in the comments).

Talent, indeed, will not be the defining theme of the 2022/23 season, but how Nagelsmann uses his players — and when he uses them — will undoubtedly have a bigger impact.

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ICYMI: The Weekend Warm-up Podcast — Season 1, Episode 56

Hey, hey, hey! No, it’s not Dwayne Nelson from What’s Happening...it’s me and I’m back for a couple of weeks (before I leave again).

While I am in town, however, I am hear to talk all things Bayern Munich and maybe some other junk, but here is what we have on tap for this episode:

• A look at the latest on the three-way transfer saga involving Bayern Munich, Robert Lewandowski, and FC Barcelona.
• Assessing the current logjam in Bayern Munich’s attack.
• Check out the three center-backs linked to the Rekordmeister this week.
• Why we addressed the Julian Nagelsmann rumors when we really don’t care what he does.
• Borussia Dortmund is getting closer, but is not quite there yet.
• Why I get the attraction to So Cal.

This was also the final episode of season one of the Weekend Warm-up Podcast. Hopefully you have enjoyed it (or at least tolerated it!).

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Song of the Week: “Hail, Hail” by Pearl Jam

As I’ve stated here before, I used to be a huge Pearl Jam head (and still listen to the them at least semi-regularly), so I’ve got an extensive playlist of the band. While I might not be as ardent a fan as I used to be (you get older, you seek new music), one of the most underrated songs in their collection is “Hail, Hail” from “No Code” — which is also perhaps their most underrated album.

Released in 1996 (when I was in my college years — I am so old), this got some airplay for Pearl Jam on local alt-rock and rock stations, but did not get anywhere near as much run as the singles released from the albums “Ten” or “Vitalogy”, which both produced mega-hits that are still played today.

“Hail, Hail”, though, is a real treasure of a song from Pearl Jam and deserved better acclaim than what it got. Enjoy:

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Entertainment Rundown

Okay, so I am behind on Ob-Wan Kenobi (hoping to finish it off tonight) and The Boys...and Peaky Blinders (how did I miss a new season being released??), so I have some work to do. If you listened to the podcast (you should!), you know why.

I was in the San Diego area last week and it absolutely threw a wrench into “watching my programs” as my grandmother used to say. What I can say, however, is that the San Diego/Oceanside area is pretty terrific, so I enjoyed my time away.

I was there for my daughter to play soccer, but we did a lot of the stuff the area had to offer (beach, San Diego Padres game, San Diego Zoo, general sight-seeing) and yes, I hit In-and-Out like any good tourist should while in California.

Anyway, I somehow was captured in the stands at the Phillies-Padres game (hey, we know that dope!):

The craziest part of the trip, however, was ending up 10 feet from Tiger Woods while at the soccer event (his daughter played on a field right before mine). Sorry, though, I did not ask him to come on the podcast (mostly because I figured there were snipers stationed and ready to take anyone who got closer than they should be).

One thing I do know is that I totally get why people would want to move to that area and just live (even without a plan). It’s a cool place in a lot of ways.

Anyway, I’ll be back next week with some takes on the Obi-Wan Kenobi finale and some thoughts on The Boys as well.