Daily Schmankerl: Has Bayern Munich’s Benjamin Pavard already lost focus because of desire to join Manchester United?; No talks between Bayern and Ibrahim Sangaré; FC Barcelona preps Joao Cancelo move; Chelsea, Juventus still talking swap deal; + MORE!

Pavard’s mind already in England? (Abendzeitung)

Rumors have been swirling around Bayern Munich defender Benjamin Pavard for months now and the German media is starting to speculate that the Frenchman might already be thinking about his next club — which is rumored to be Manchester United or Liverpool FC:

The Frenchman had to play his right-back position, which he did not prefer. His performance in the first half was disastrous, as if he had finished with FC Bayern, which he plans to leave in August.

Tuchel anticipated the end through a yellow-red card by substituting at the break. Manchester United and Liverpool FC are courting the 27-year-old. Munich is said to have rejected an initial offer of around 30 million euros. Nevertheless: Was this already Pavard’s farewell performance?

On Monday, we saw the story that Pavard has fully put his mind into a transfer to Manchester United and — based on his performance on Saturday in the DFL-Supercup — it would seem that the Frenchman is ready to move on.

Still, it is curious as to why manager Thomas Tuchel has continued to use Pavard over Noussair Mazraoui, especially when the 27-year-old wants to play center-back anyway.

At some point, Tuchel just has to stop playing him if Pavard really is going to leave. Given the latest news, the coach might not even have to make that call on Friday against SV Werder Bremen if things progress quickly between Pavard and the Red Devils.

Sangaré not on Bayern’s radar? (@Plettigoal)

Just a day after the family of PSV Eindhoven defensive midfielder Ibrahim Sangaré said that Bayern Munich was among the clubs eyeing the player, Sky Sport journalist Florian Plettenberg is reporting that there is nothing “concrete” going on with the Bavarians and Sangaré.

If Bayern Munich is going to bring in a No. 6, it might not be the 25-year-old:

Bavarian Podcast Works: Weekend Warm-up Podcast Season 3, Episode 5 (Bavarian Football Works)

After months of speculation, it finally appears that Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane is making the seemingly unlikely move to Bayern Munich.

The final days here have been a whirlwind of “will he” or “won’t he” stories that eventually all faded away. Barring a last minute collapse, Kane should be making his way to Germany for a physical and could be presented at the DFL-Supercup — if things go to plan.

All that said, there was plenty to talk about, so let’s dig in:

• Why I am crushing a crow sandwich.
• Recapping the craziness that occurred on Thursday August 10th as news was flowing from everywhere about Kane’s potential move.
• How Kane will fit and why Thomas Tuchel’s biggest job is to ensure this move is a success. Also, some thoughts on what happens if Tuchel can’t make the team mesh quickly.
• What else Bayern Munich might be looking at in the transfer market and why some of the perceived needs probably are exactly requirements.

Hepburn taking advantage of loan opportunity (Daily Record)

Barry Hepburn took a loan away from Bayern Munich this season to play at Queen’s Park FC where he has tallied one goal and one assist in two game so far.

Things are going nicely for the Scottish 19-year-old.

“It suits me perfectly, getting the ball on the deck and playing out from the back,” said Hepburn. “It’s quite similar to the German style, trying to play the opposition off the pitch. When I first heard about what they are trying to do at Queen’s Park in terms of the playing style and vision, I thought it would be ideal. I was quite surprised that a Scottish team wants to play that way. You see so many other clubs where they just hoof it up the pitch and it’s scrappy. We want to play teams off the pitch and we are capable.”

Bonucci to…Union? (@dw_sports)

Union Berlin is (possibly) making moves.

The Iron Ones are far down the road with Inter Milan wing-back Robin Gosens, though nothing is finalized as of yet. Now we know that Juventus center-back Leonardo Bonucci could also make the jump to Berlin:

Here is the latest on Gosens-to-Union Berlin as well:

Bavarian Podcast Works — Flagship Show: Season 6, Episode 5 (Bavarian Football Works)

Well that could have gone better. Embarrassing doesn’t begin to describe what we saw as Bayern Munich succumbed 3-0 to RB Leipzig in this year’s edition of the DFL Supercup. Thomas Tuchel was at a loss to explain why his team is playing such horrible football, so us here at BPW decided to do it for him. Spoiler alert: It’s the coach.

In this episode, INNN and Samrin discuss the following:

• Why did Benjamin Pavard, who wants to leave Bayern Munich, start this game?
• Can you even blame the players when the tactics are this bad?
• How Thomas Tuchel is completely neutering Jamal Musiala.
• What is going on with the midfield? Why is Joshua Kimmich playing so badly?
• In defense of Mathys Tel and the chances he missed.
• Can Harry Kane and/or Thomas Muller really fix this?
• Why this loss hurts more than usual from a marketing/exposure perspective.
• Harry Kane is an amazing transfer, but he could bomb because of a bad start.
• Extremely worrying signs from Thomas Tuchel in the post match presser.
• Is it time for Bayern to sack Tuchel? What options are available as replacements?
• Could any new transfers fix this team?
• Closing out with the goalkeeper issue — is Sven Ulreich good enough? Will Manuel Neuer ever come back?
• Was it a mistake to let Yann Sommer go? Should Bayern Munich have kept him?

Barca prep Cancelo move (@FabrizioRomano)

FC Barcelona is reportedly readying a proposal to Manchester City, which would see Joao Cancelo move to Spain on a loan assignment and eventually give the Catalans an option to buy the Portuguese star:

Chelsea considered Juve swap (Corriere dello Sport via 90Min.com)

There was been a rumored swap deal between Chelsea FC and Juventus on the table for weeks now. The players involves would be Dušan Vlahović and Romelu Lukaku, who both do actually need a change of scenery:

Despite Chelsea declining a swap deal involving Dusan Vlahović, Juventus remain in talks with the Blues over signing striker Romelu Lukaku.

Vlahović’s next move will be key for his career. For whatever reason, things did not fully click at Juventus for the Serbian, but Chelsea has not exactly been an easy place for strikers to thrive of late. Perhaps, Mauricio Pochettino will be able to extract the best out of Vlahović.

ICYMI: Ünder transfers to Fenerbahce (@FabrizioRomano)

Former Bayern Munich transfer target Cengiz Ünder has made the move to Fenerbahce from Olympique Marseille:

Sanches to Roma gets the “Here we go!” treatment (@FabrizioRomano)

Former Bayern Munich midfielder Renato Sanches looks to be on his way to AS Roma: