It was thought that Real Madrid would buck up for Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies this summer, but a couple of roller coaster seasons have taken some of the luster off of the Canadian star.
Despite that, Bayern Munich is rumored to be holding out for a 50 million deal for a player that Real Madrid does not see any reason to pay that much for — especially when he will be available as a free transfer next summer.
It is conundrum — take a lower offer for Davies or let him walk away for nothing in 2025? Well, the option to make some money for him now might be off the table:
FC Bayern have not expected Real Madrid to make an offer for Alphonso #Davies in August!
… now Carlo #Ancelotti has already announced a transfer stop.
Bayern are firmly planning on Davies for this season. The plan remains: if his performances improve under Vincent Kompany, they are prepared to improve their offer for a contract extension again in the next months.
⚠️ Otherwise, a free transfer in 2025 is very likely, with @realmadrid being the top favorite at this stage. So far, Bayern have no knowledge of a pre-agreement between Davies/Real.
It has been rumored that Bayern Munich’s latest offer to Davies was €14 million per season, which seems ludicrous for a left-back during a time when the club is seeking to trim its payroll budget.
Even for the most ardent supporters of Davies, it would be extremely tough to think that kind of salary for a player who has scuffled for 2.5 seasons would be a wise investment given Bayern Munich’s current budget directives.
The reality could be that Bayern Munich will be forced to overpay for the Canadian so he will stay or face the fact that he will need to leave the team for free next season.
In what seems like a never-ending saga, Liverpool FC is prepping to try and keep Mo Salah:
Liverpool are braced for their own approach from Saudi Arabia for winger Mohamed Salah. A bid of £100m would be “hard to turn down”.
After weeks of speculation, Borussia Dortmund legend Marco Reus has made the jump to MLS and will play for the LA Galaxy:
It will be interesting to see how much Reus has left in the tank.
Bayern Munich’s preseason is essentially over (the new friendly vs. Grasshopper Club Zürich notwithstanding) and the team is looking more and more like a finished product.
That said, a lot happened since our last Weekend Warm-up Show, so there was a lot to talk about. This is what we have on tap for this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Show:
- Since we last spoke: Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui officially skipped town for Manchester United, Désiré Doué chose Paris Saint-Germain, Alphonso Davies is in limbo, and Kingsley Coman’s future is up in the air. This is fine.
- Marco Reus is off to MLS and the LA Galaxy. Will Robert Lewandowski join him at some point? Also, some brief thoughts on the steroid topic from this week.
- What can go right and what can wrong for Bayern Munich.
- A brief entertainment rundown and some podcast-related announcements.
Bayern Munich has made an enemy of Phil Collins…maybe:
The son of British rocker Phil Collins featured against Bayern Munich in a friendly – against all odds – after being brought on as a substitute by Austrian side WSG Tirol.
Matthew Collins, 19, played the final four minutes of Bayern’s 3-0 victory at Sportpark Unterhaching on Tuesday night and pitted himself against several superstars.
Collins signed a contract with WSG Tirol last summer but unwittingly, the club did not know that his father is the legendary frontman of Genesis.
His 73-year-old dad has five children with Matthew the youngest of them.
Collins Jnr played for Hannover’s U19s earlier in his career but after the German club released him, he went on to impress on trial in Austria.
WSG Tirol play in the top-flight but Collins has often turned out for their reserve team, named WSG Tirol Juniors, who compete in the fourth division.
Against All Odds, WSG Tirol took Bayern Munich on in that friendly, but it turned out to be just Another Day in Paradise for the Bavarians. That’s All we have…hopefully you learned something. Now Take Me Home because I can feel it In the Air Tonight.
Seriously, though, Collins, especially when he was in Genesis, pumped out some bangers in the 80s.
Uh, this is wild:
Ajax knocked Panathinaikos out of Champions League qualifying after a shootout that took – penalties
Ajax: ✅✅✅✅ ✅ ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅ ✅
Panathinaikos: ✅✅✅✅✅ ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅ pic.twitter.com/TcQYHQDRbF
— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 15, 2024
The competition for Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman could be thinning out. FC Barcelona could be the last club standing:
Paris Saint-Germain will not launch the offensive to re-sign Kingsley Coman this summer, thus boosting Barcelona’s prospects of signing the 28-year-old from Bayern Munich.
According to a report by Spanish outlet SPORT, Kingsley Coman is the subject of interest from Barcelona. The 28-year-old might leave Bayern Munich in the summer transfer window, and Paris Saint-Germain considered re-signing him. However, the Ligue 1 champions have decided against launching the offensive for the attacker, thus boosting Barcelona’s prospects.
Barcelona’s interest in Kingsley Coman is understandable. The Blaugrana will unlikely sign Nico Williams from Athletic Club this summer, with the Spanish international leaning towards staying at San Mames. So, the Catalan giants are identifying alternatives in the market. Coman has thus emerged as a viable target for Barcelona.
As for PSG, they have lost Kylian Mbappe, who has joined Real Madrid in a Bosman move this summer. While Coman will not be a like-for-like replacement for his compatriot, the 28-year-old serial winner can be a valuable addition to the PSG squad. However, the Ligue 1 champions have ruled out a summer move for the Frenchman.
(Finds random cliff, peers off into the distance, uses a deep voice to utter, “And so it begins”…)
It’s time!
Bayern Munich will kick off its season the DFB-Pokal vs. SSV Ulm in a match that should — should! — see the Bavarians be considered heavy favorites. In the first real match under Vincent Kompany, Bayern Munich will surely want to get off to a good start and build some momentum for what could be a very difficult campaign.
The top end of the Bundesliga — as a collective — might be better than last season and the Bavarians will have to find a way to ward off the natural growing pains that can occur under a new coach.
That all starts with Friday’s match in the DFB-Pokal against SSV Ulm. Let’s dive into it and get started with our first Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show of the season. Here is what we have on tap:
- Where the team stands coming out of the preseason.
- Who you might know on SSV Ulm.
- A look at the latest news on injuries.
- A guess at Vincent Kompany’s lineup.
- A prediction on the match.
Well, this is certainly interesting:
Mauricio Pochettino has agreed to become the new United States coach with the responsibility of leading the team into the 2026 World Cup, a source told ESPN on Thursday.
Pochettino, 52, has been out of work since leaving Chelsea by mutual consent earlier this summer after just one season in charge at Stamford Bridge.
A source told ESPN that the former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain coach agreed to succeed Gregg Berhalter as USMNT head coach following lengthy discussions with Matt Crocker, the USSF technical director.
Pochettino will have his work cut out for him in trying to adjust to the messed up landscape that is US Soccer.
At one point, Borna Sosa was linked to Bayern Munich, but now he is headed to Torino from Ajax on loan:
Manchester City could be lining up a big money move for Real Madrid attacker Rodrygo:
Manchester City could be offered the chance to sign Rodrygo from Real Madrid as they go in search for a Julian Alvarez replacement.
Bayern Munich downed Austrian side WSG Tirol 3-0 in Unterhaching in a match that unimpressive, but did achieve the goal of getting some younger players time, while allowing the veterans to shake off a little more rust ahead of the DFB-Pokal match against SSV Ulm.
Let’s get to it and discuss how this match played out:
- A look at Vincent Kompany’s odd lineup and why there were not that many experienced reserves available.
- A rundown of the scoring and substitutes. The first half was slow, but the second’s effort was better.
- Talking Grayson Dettoni (it would have been great to see him play).
- The game lacked any offensive cohesion and that aggressive press was absent as well.
- A missed opportunity for Leon Goretzka.
- Gabriel Vidović has probably performed at a level that will garner him enough interest to either be loaned again or sold outright.
- Where does Bayern Munich go from here?
Cristiano Ronaldo would like to see Manchester United’s Antony join him at Al Nassr:
Cristiano Ronaldo has asked Al Nassr chiefs to bring in out-of-favour Manchester United winger Antony, who is keen on a move to Saudi Arabia. The Red Devils could even terminate his contract to facilitate a move.
Juventus would like to ink Chelsea FC’s Raheem Sterling:
Juventus are weighing up the possibility of signing Raheem Sterling from Stamford Bridge but acknowledge they will face competition from other Premier League sides for his signature.
So preseason is practically over and Bayern Munich have emerged with the prestigious Visit Malta Cup and extended bragging rights over Tottenham Hotspur supporters. However, who were the major winners and losers from the whole exercise? What did we learn about Vincent Kompany’s plans for next season?
In this episode, INNN and Samrin discuss the following:
- What is up with Leon Goretzka? Is he finally being pushed out?
- Will Vincent Kompany actually use Thomas Müller in an important role this season?
- Why Harry Kane might need to adjust his game.
- The new midfield — first impressions of Palhinha, and Joshua Kimmich’s current role.
- What we like from Kompany so far.
- The issue of selling Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, and how this may have unforeseen consequences.
- Will Bayern Munich make further transfers this summer?
- Answering supporter questions re: Upamecano, the squad planning, and transfers.
