Daily Schmankerl: Manchester United, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, PSG all wanted Bayern Munich’s Benjamin Pavard; Journo convinced Harry Kane legit target for Bayern; Manuel Neuer...offensive juggernaut?; and MORE!

Pavard admits he had offers in the summer (Telefoot via @iMiaSanMia)

Bayern Munich defender Benjamin Pavard missed his team’s 1-0 loss to FC Augsburg, but is in the midst of a terrific season.

A center-back by trade, Pavard has stood out with his performances at right-back during this campaign. He does still maintain a desire to play centrally and some clubs expressed their interest in the Frenchman over the summer.

“I asked myself questions in the summer. I had calls from different clubs. Maybe one day I’ll go to one of these clubs. But I spoke to Julian Nagelsmann, who made it clear to me that I was in his plans,” Pavard told Telefoot.

Per the report, the clubs who inquired about Pavard were Atletico Madrid, Chelsea FC, Juventus, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain.

With his contract ending in 2024, how difficult will it be for Bayern Munich to retain Pavard next summer is he continues on pace with his torrid start?

Plettenberg says Kane is legit target for Bayern next summer (Caught Offside)

Sky journalist Florian Plettenberg told Sky Italia that he is “convinced” Bayern Munich will try to get Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane in the summer of 2023.

“I am convinced that Kane will be Bayern Munich’s real market target next summer,” Plettenberg said.

With the team’s current struggles with finishing and the lack of a true No. 9 on the rosters, it is getting really easy to believe Plettenberg’s information.

Bavarian Podcast Works: Weekend Warm-up Podcast — Season 2, Episode 11 (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich will soon set off for an international break, but there is a ton to talk about. We had some mini-controversies emerge this week, plus a HUGE Champions League win over FC Barcelona as the big happenings, but there was plenty more to discuss as well.

Here is what we have on tap for this episode:

• Checking on where we think Bayern Munich stands entering the final week of the Bundesliga before the international break.
• Germany’s latest round of call-ups.
• Re-upping Benjamin Pavard and Alexander Nübel might not be easy.
• Why Bayern Munich could really have something in Paul Wanner and Arijon Ibrahimović — and what that could mean moving forward.
• Some Bayern Munich players probably are unhappy, but it’s fine for now.
• House of the Dragon got icky.

Lukaku...left to rot? (Football Transfers)

How bad did things get between Romelu Lukaku and Chelsea FC? Well, some think that if Marina Granovskaia was still in charge, Lukaku would be toiling away on the reserves rather than being on loan with Inter Milan:

Marina Granovskaia would have left Romelu Lukaku rotting in the reserves rather than loan him back to Inter Milan – according to Gianluca Di Marzio - had the former Chelsea director not departed the club this summer. Lukaku completed his return to Inter Milan from Chelsea, joining on a one-year loan, with the Nerazzurri paying a loan fee of €8 million plus €4m in add-ons.

Chelsea paid €115m for the striker last summer in the hope he would be the final piece in the jigsaw to take them to Premier League glory. But he endured a disastrous 2021-22 season, scoring only eight Premier League goals.

He caused a storm at Chelsea in December 2021 after he gave an unauthorised interview to Sky Sport Italia during which he declared his unhappiness at the club, criticised manager Thomas Tuchel’s tactics and said that he wanted to return to Inter.

This infuriated Chelsea’s management, owners and fans, and Lukaku’s career at Stamford Bridge never recovered.

But Di Marzio claims that Chelsea would never have sanctioned Lukaku’s return to Inter had she not departed the club due to the fallout from Roman Abramovich’s enforced exit as owner.

“I don’t think Marina Granovskaia would have allowed his return to Inter,” Di Marzio said. “She would have kept him at Chelsea walking around Stamford Bridge, rather, or at Cobham. She would not have loaned him out to Inter. Probably, the situation the club was going through favoured this market deal.”

Crazy stat (@WhoScored)

Start Manuel Neuer at striker and be done with it:

Bavarian Podcast Works: Postgame Show — FC Augsburg 1-0 Bayern Munich (Bavarian Football Works)

After three consecutive draws in the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich squared off with FC Augsburg in hopes of finally nailing down three points.

Getting that much-needed league victory, however, would once again prove to be a difficult task as Bayern Munich dropped a 1-0 decision to FC Augsburg in an effort that was simply not good enough.

Here is what we have on tap for this episode:

• A rundown of the scoring.
• How impressive FC Augsburg’s energy and desire were throughout the match.
• Rafał Gikiewicz entered into Yann Sommer mode.
• Mergim Berisha’s goal and how it was the product of FC Augsburg’s energy and desire as Bayern lacked both in trying to prevent it.
• Some talk about what is missing from Bayern Munich at the moment, including the inefficiency of the squad’s attack.
• Where we go from here — this is not the way to enter into the international break.

Skriniar a hot target for January (Sky)

Like Benjamin Pavard, Inter Milan defender Milan Skriniar looks like he will be a hot name in next summer’s transfer window. Unlike Pavard, Skriniar will be available for free. Manchester City Tottenham Hotspur, and Chelsea are all reportedly after Skriniar:

Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea are set to open a battle to sign Inter Milan defender Milan Skriniar in January with his contract expiring in the summer of 2023.