Daily Schmankerl: FC Barcelona to best Bayern Munich for Bayer Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah; Douglas Costa, James Rodriguez, Mats Hummels all finding new homes?; Liverpool besting Barca for Juventus star Federico Chiesa; and MORE!

Bayern Munich was rumored to have strong interest in Bayer Leverkusen center-back and Germany international Jonathan Tah for most of the summer.

With the squad’s backline putting in an uneven effort during the Bundesliga opener against VfL Wolfsburg, there was some thought that the Bavarians might have tried to get back into the running for the 28-year-old.

If Bayern Munich decides to do that, it might have to contend with Hansi Flick’s FC Barcelona side:

@FCBarcelona, now exploring deal to sign Jonathan #Tah until Deadline Day!

… with first talks have taken place. 28 y/o German national still not willing to extend his contract beyond 2025 with Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

FC Bayern deal, still not 100 % off.

Wait and see. Busy days ahead …

Kim Min-jae’s poor showing — and injured status — is not doing anything to help fans feel more secure about the center-back position after Bayern Munich sold Matthijs de Ligt to Manchester United.

Will the Bavarians make a late run?

Douglas Costa has managed to find another club who will pay him. Now the former Bayern Munich winger is off to Australia:

Douglas #Costa will join Sydney FC with immediate effect ✔️

33 y/o winger will join Australian top club as a free agent. Big deal for the A-League.

Sporting Director Alexander Baumjohann was pushing for Costa. With success. Medical done and contract until 2026 signed.

Announcement in the next hours.

And then it happened…

That was almost a disaster. Vincent Kompany must have breathed a sigh of relief when Bayern Munich just barely managed to scrape a 3-2 win against VfL Wolfsburg on his Bundesliga debut. Still, the performance raises several uncomfortable questions about the coach, the squad, and especially the board.

In this episode, INNN and Samrin discuss the following:

• Our first impressions of Vincent Kompany’s Bundesliga debut.
• An analysis of the lineup — where was Thomas Müller? Why Alphonso Davies? Why not Eric Dier? So many questionable choices.
• How is the performance principle being applied? Why did Vincent Kompany ignore certain players?
• How Kompany managed the game (including subs).
• Looking at each and every single player individually and what they brought to the table.
• Why did Harry Kane look better in the second half?
• Jamal Musiala remains misused.
• Joshua Kimmich’s enigmatic midfield performance.
• The disasterclass by Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-jae — why does it keep happening?
• Selling Matthijs de Ligt was clearly a mistake. What do we do now?
• Compare and contrast to Hansi Flick at FC Barcelona.
• Did Bayern make a mistake by rejecting Flick? Would Flick have done a better job by now?
• Where does Kompany go from here? What happens to Eberl and co. if he fails?
• Ending the podcast on a somewhat optimistic note.

Speaking of former disappointing Bayern Munich players, James Rodriguez inked a deal with Rayo Vallecano:

Former Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich center-back appears to have found his next club — Real Sociedad:

Welcome to Part 3 of the Bundesliga 2024/25 Prediction Series!

The concept is simple: Marcus Iredahl, a Bundesliga fanatic and self-proclaimed mediocre predictor, will review all the Bundesliga teams for the upcoming 2024/25 season and predict their final standings.

So please join him as he will review all the teams, offering his insights on their summer transfer window, coach, and the top 3 players to watch this season.

Part 3 will cover predictions for the 6th to 1st place finishes. Marcus will offer insights on:

• Why Bayer Leverkusen is poised for a great season after last year’s success under Xabi Alonso.
• Why Bayern Munich needs to give new head coach Vincent Kompany time to make his mark.
• Why Nuri Sahin’s Dortmund project lacks confidence for the future.
• Why Eintracht Frankfurt could be this season’s dark horse.
• Why Benjamin Sesko is just one season away from becoming an elite striker.
• And much more!

Part 1 covered the 18th to 13th place finishes and included the following predictions:

18. VfL Bochum

17. Holstein Kiel

16. FC Heidenheim

15. FSV Mainz 05

14. FC St. Pauli

13. FC Augsburg

Part 2 covered the 12th to 7th place finished and included the following predictions:

12. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

11. SV Werder Bremen

10. SC Freiburg

9. VfB Stuttgart

8. FC Union Berlin

7. Borussia Mönchengladbach

FC Barcelona seems like it is in pole position to land Juventus outcast Federico Chiesa:

Later, Liverpool thrust itself into the mix as well:

With the news that Kingsley Coman wants to leave the club before the end of the transfer window, could Bayern Munich also kick the tires on an old flame?

Eh, probably not, as things escalated quickly between Chiesa and Liverpool:

Well, we made it.

Through the EURO 2024 tourney, a crazy transfer window (which is still ongoing for a few more days), the preseason, and the opening DFB-Pokal match, Bayern Munich is finally ready to kick off its Bundesliga season.

Excitement does, indeed, reign supreme.

If you want our takes on the Bayern Munich vs. Wolfsburg match, check out our Preview Show, but for now, we have a lot of other Bayern news to tackle on our agenda. Let’s take a look at what is on tap for this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Show:

• After all of that, Leon Goretzka and Kingsley Coman are probably staying at Bayern Munich…now, what?
• More thoughts on that wild Matthijs de Ligt story.
• Germany lost a ton of experience in the last two months after the respective retirements of Toni Kroos, Thomas Müller, İlkay Gündoğan, and Manuel Neuer.
• Would Manuel Neuer have stayed with Germany under another coach?
• The four most “captain-like” players all retired, so Joshua Kimmich has to be the choice…right?
• Who else could be in contention?

Borussia Dortmund attacker Youssoufa Moukoko is likely on his way to OGC Nice for a loan assignment:

Bayern Munich star Jamal Musiala made WhoScored.com’s Bundesliga Team of the Week:

Harry Kane received the nod from kicker:

Valencia’s Giorgi Mamardashvili will move to Liverpool FC in 2025:

You come here daily. You read the posts. You listen to the podcasts (or at least you should).

Heck, you might even banter with some of BFW staffers in the comments or on social media.

But…do you really know us?

Now, you will get that chance. In a Bavarian Podcast Works Special Edition Series, we are unleashing unveiling “BFW Behind the Scenes.”

In this series you will get to know some of the BFW staffers a little better than you already do. Find out how they got involved with Bayern Munich, Bavarian Football Works, what they like, what they’re into, and what they are expecting from the Bavarians this season.

So settle in for some fun as Chuck Smith hosts “BFW Behind the Scenes” — a fun set of conversations with BFW staffers. We’ve got an entire slate of BFW’ers ready to go. Check out the podcasts and let us know what you think!

In this edition, you can meet Rayyan aka Cyler.