Daily Schmankerl: Update — Bayern Munich’s Adrian Fein leaves for Excelsior Rotterdam on free transfer; Christian Pulisic not leaving Chelsea?; Sergiño Dest to be loaned away from FC Barcelona; and a whole lot MORE!

Update: Fein to Excelsior Rotterdam goes official (@excelsiorrdam)

Update — 12:45PM EST

Bayern Munich midfielder Adrian Fein completed his move to Excelsior Rotterdam:

Oddly, there was no transfer fee involved, but now Bayern Munch is relieved of Fein’s salary:

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Original story

Bayern Munich midfielder Adrian Fein might finally get his transfer, as Excelsior Rotterdam is set to ink the 23-year-old midfielder.

The move comes after the realization that Bayern Munich had no plans for the once-heralded prospect, who had loan stints at loan stints at Jahn Regensburg, Hamburger SV, PSV Eindhoven, Greuther Fürth, and Dynamo Dresden:

Sky’s Florian Plettenberg confirmed the story as well:

Tz’s Mano Bonke got his hands on this photo of Fein at the airport:

This — theoretically — should give Fein the chance for playing time that he needs.

Pulisic likely staying put (@Plettigoal)

The rumors linking Chelsea FC attacker and USMNT star Christian Pulisic to Manchester United appear to have gone to the wayside given the Red Devils’ pursuit of Antony:

Players like Pulisic, Timo Werner, and Kai Havertz went to Chelsea FC and did win a Champions League crown, but at what cost to their respective careers and development? Surely, players like those three could have thrived in a different environment instead of constantly wondering if they could push their way forward through a heap of attackers on the rosters.

For his part Havertz seems to be the one player of the trio who Thomas Tuchel has elected to steadily trust (Werner moved on to RB Leipzig, while Pulisic has been in transfers rumors all summer), but he has yet to really become that great player that many expected him to evolve into.

Yeah, getting that UCL crown probably justified their decisions, but each of those players probably plays a little bit of “what if” in wondering where their respective games might be if they had moved to a different club — or just stayed where they were initially.

Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Podcast: Season 2, Episode 7 (Bavarian Podcast Works)

Check out our preview for this weekend’s VfL Bochum matchup, along with a review of Bayern’s Matchday 2 dispatching of VfL Wolfsburg in a hard-fought contest.

There was plenty to talk about. On tap:

• Tanguy Nianzou’s surprise exit and how the defense it setting up for this season.
• A contract extension for sporting director Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidžić and how he has evolved as an executive.
• Robert Lewandowski’s tough start for FC Barcelona.
• Leroy Sané’s form has landed him on the B team for training.
• Serge Gnabry’s injury is an opportunity for Kingsley Coman.
• A dive into the Better Call Saul final, my thoughts, why I am a selfish viewer, and potentially a bad person!

Pundit says Mané’s exit was loss of “fight” for Liverpool (talkSPORT)

Another day, another pundit lamenting the state of Liverpool without Sadio Mané.

Speaking to talkSPORT, pundit Dean Saunders had a lot to say on Liverpool’s look without Mané.

“It’s easy for me to say it, but I have been thinking it, you can’t just let a player like Sadio Mané leave and replace him. It affects the whole team. You just have to think about what he does in a game. Every time the ball is kicked long towards him or Salah the ball sticks. They’ve got glue on the end of their toe,” Saunders said. “They’re both strong so you can’t knock them off the ball. He carries the fight of the left-hand side. He does more than just score, he carries the whole left side of the pitch. Salah’s not going to score as many goals with Mané not playing, for obvious reasons.”

Saunders, however, was not quite done there.

“The midfield three who we’ve looked at and always thought they’re quite average – they’re not Man City’s midfield – but they suit Liverpool’s way of playing because they walk back, so now you’re starting to question the midfield,” Saunders went on. “You’re looking at (James) Milner and (Jordan) Henderson, are they too old? It’s a combination of injuries, bad defending from Trent (Alexander-Arnold) and Mane leaving the club.”

Dest to be loaned away from Barca (The Hard Tackle)

Once a Bayern Munich transfer target, Sergiño Dest could be headed away from FC Barcelona on a loan assignment:

Catalan giants Barcelona are reportedly weighing up loaning out Sergiño Dest, with a suitor unlikely to shell out €20 million on the American defender. According to a report by Spanish publication SPORT, Barcelona will look to ship Sergiño Dest out on loan in the ongoing transfer window if a suitor does not sign him permanently. The Catalan giants want to recoup €20 million by selling the American defender, but a permanent exit might not be possible this summer.

Dest has previously shown the determination to remain at the Catalan club beyond the summer transfer window. But with Barcelona still in the market for a right-back, offloading the 21-year-old defender is the best way for them to bring in a signing while registering him in La Liga.

But no suitor has come up with a bid matching Barcelona’s asking price, worth €20 million. The Catalan giants want to recoup the sum from his sale but are making peace with the idea of possibly loaning Dest for the 2022/23 season to get him off their books.

It will be interesting to see if Barcelona’s openness to loaning the American defender compels clubs to launch the offensive to sign Dest. But a permanent exit in a €20 million deal looks unlikely for Dest, who faces an uncertain future at Camp Nou this summer.

Bavarian Podcast Works: Flagship Show — Season 5, Episode 8 (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich are off to a record-breaking start in the league and things look so good it’s almost magical. The combination of the 4-2-2-2 formation and the newfound chemistry between all of Bayern’s forwards makes every single game an unprecedented goal fest. Of course new challenges await over the horizon, with the Champions League group stage draw set to take place later this week.

In this episode, INNN and Samrin discuss:

• Whether the departure of Robert Lewandowski is responsible for the incredible upswing in performances from Bayern Munich this season.
• Why Julian Nagelsmann’s philosophy seems to work better without a true striker in the system.
• How the addition of Sadio Mane has made Bayern’s attack much stronger overall.
• Why this current system wouldn’t work under another coach such as Hansi Flick.
• Thomas Muller’s new playing style in Lewandowski’s absence.
• Did the board let Lewandowski leave ... on purpose?
• Concerns about the defense, and the number of chances conceded in each game.
• A discussion about Champions League groups — who is our preferred opponent and why is it Liverpool FC?
• Our preferred picks from Pot 2 in order. Chelsea, Barcelona, Tottenham, etc.
• A look at Pot 3 and the best teams available — Inter, Napoli, and Salzburg.
• Why an easy team from Pot 4 would be better for Bayern.
• How the rest of the Bundesliga teams might fare in the CL group stages this season.

England’s White to retire(@ellsbells89)

England football Ellen White is a calling it a career, but still has a badass Twitter handle:

Trapp actually considering United move (Bild via @RaeComm)

This would be such a bizarre move for Germany international Kevin Trapp:

Trapp moving to Manchester United to be a back up...to someone he might already be better than is confounding.

Bavarian Podcast Works: Postgame Show — VFL Bochum 0-7 Bayern Munich (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich continued their outstanding start to the campaign with an unbelievable 7-0 thrashing of VFL Bochum. There were points during the game when I felt sorry for the Ruhr outfit, which looked bereft of ideas. Bayern had 5 different scorers, and the team was sizzling tonight. Everyone played their role to near perfection, barring a shaky start for both Upamecano and Neuer. The latter became his usual self as the game progressed, which may or may not be attributed to the banana he consumed early in the second half.

There were a lot of positives and a lot to discuss, so here’s a synopsis of the major talking points in the podcast:

• The lineups, and Bochum’s tactics and gameplan.
• How Nagelsmann set his team up (taking into account the absences).
• Bayern’s attack and THAT performance.
• Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman, Sadio Mane, and how the attack clicked.
• Serge Gnabry the super sub.
• That midfield machine.
• Superb defending, plus a clean sheet :)
• #Bananeuer the legend.