Daily Schmankerl: The difference between Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland; RB Leipzig wants Xavi Simons for the long haul; With PSG out, Victor Osimhen to Chelsea?; João Cancelo leaves City; and MORE!

If there is one critique of Harry Kane’s game at Bayern Munich, it is his propensity for — sometimes — disappearing from his striker position to become more active in the build-up, which can put him out of position for scoring opportunities on occasion.

Interestingly, Gary Lineker says that Kane’s desire to drop deeper is what make him — somewhat — less effective than Manchester City’s Erling Haaland as a striker:

Ex-City star Richards brought up Kane dropping deeper and getting involved in play for England at Euro 2024, before highlighting Haaland is not interested in doing that, opting to stay high up the pitch instead.

And Lineker believes this allows Haaland to be more profitable in front of goal. The former England striker said: “I thought it highlighted as well the importance of the way Haaland plays and plays so high. Because if he constantly spins behind, defenders will get nervous so they drop a little bit deeper.

“Therefore, your midfield players will have more space behind.

“Whereas if he did drop 20 yards into midfield, then he actually crowds it out more so there’s no space for those midfield players. So it’s very important.”

And he thinks if Kane adopted Haaland’s positioning, he’d bag more goals.

He continued: “I think we did talk about this in the summer with England, because Kane likes to drop. But if he can stay higher, then you can create a little bit of space in behind. I think he does that brilliantly and he’s that perfect striker where he’s patient enough. He doesn’t care if he touches it ten times or 50 times in the game. He cares about how much he touches it into the back of the net.”

Lineker is echoing some of the critique Bayern Munich fans have had of Kane (who has been spectacular otherwise during his time in Bavaria). Should Kane eschew that willingness to help in the build-up?

It appears as if João Cancelo is finally getting that move away from Manchester City that he has been wanting all summer:

The move did go official as well:

Welcome to a new BPW show, “The Bundesliga Rundown with Marcus Iredahl”—the ultimate podcast for all Bundesliga enthusiasts who live and breathe German football.

If you missed the matchday due to travel, socializing, or any other reason, this is the podcast for you! Marcus will recap all the matchday results, offering in-depth analysis of two standout games each week. Additionally, in the ‘Bundesliga Spotlight’ segment, he’ll highlight the most captivating moment of the week in German football.

In this week’s episode, we’ll cover:

• Why Borussia Mönchengladbach fans shouldn’t be disheartened by a recent loss.
• How Leverkusen’s mentality and offensive prowess make them strong contenders for the Bundesliga title once again.
• Whether Nuri Sahin’s Dortmund marks the beginning of a new era or continues the chaotic trends of the past.
• The curious case of a half-empty stadium at Hoffenheim.
• A quick preview of Matchday 2, with Bayern Munich hosting SC Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen taking on RB Leipzig.

Despite stories indicating that he wants to go the Premier League, RB Leipzig wants to keep Xavi Simons to be a part of its core group:

RB Leipzig want to keep #Xavi long-term: ⤵️

“Our management has to negotiate that with #PSG. For now, he is on loan. But of course, our goal is to keep top players like him on a long-term basis,” said Oliver Mintzlaff. The Red Bull CEO added: ⤵️

“We’ve now shown that it’s possible, even against strong competition. #Šeško had substantial offers, including from the Premier League, but he chose to stay with us and even extended his contract.”

This might be wishful thinking, but RB Leipzig might be willing to go “all-in” with this group.

Victor Osimhen’s name has been in the rumor mill for well over a year now and it is still unclear on what exactly the striker wants and where he wants to be. Right now, Chelsea FC might be in the lead to land his services:

Napoli striker Victor Osimhen would rather head to Chelsea than the Saudi Pro League as speculation over his future rumbles on.

Per Fabrizio Romano, Paris Saint-Germain is out of the bidding:

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.

Joao Cancelo being at Bayern Munich feels like it was so little ago.

Now, the Portuguese star could be contemplating making the move to Saudi Arabia:

Manchester City have agreed a £21.2m deal with Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal to sell defender Joao Cancelo. Personal terms are not thought to be a problem, although Cancelo is yet to agree to the move.

If he does, the 30-year-old is expected to sign a three-year contract, ending his five-year stay at Etihad Stadium. City manager Pep Guardiola said this month Cancelo could play for the club again.

However, the disagreement which led to Cancelo spending time on loan with Bayern Munich and Barcelona over the past 18 months was always likely to prove a major stumbling block.

The much anticipated move for Juventus to grab Teun Koopmeiners looks like it is about to happen after a couple of years of speculation:

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!

After a lot of rigmarole, FC Barcelona finally registered Dani Olmo:

Manchester United is really flipping over several key positions in their squad this summer, eh? The Red Devils procured Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain:

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?