Daily Schmankerl: Bayern Munich “on verge” of deal with West Ham’s Declan Rice?; Bayern’s exit from Harry Kane race opens door for Manchester United; Chelsea’s Kai Havertz to Real Madrid?; Allegri not pushing Dušan Vlahović away at Juventus; & MORE!

Bear with me and take this with a MASSIVE grain of salt, but Marca journalist José Félix Díaz is reporting that Bayern Munich is “on the verge” of completing a deal with West Ham defensive midfielder Declan Rice.

If you are like us, you are rolling your eyes, but this is the essence of silly season. Behold @iMiaSanMia’s tweet capturing the report:

At this stage, anything is possible, but this seems very unlikely. Frankly, it is shocking that Bayern Munich has gotten this far down the road with Rice, who still seems like he is destined for a move to Arsenal FC.

Can Bayern Munich really pull this one off? We’ll find out soon enough.

With Bayern Munich rumored to have exited the Harry Kane sweepstakes, Manchester United could swoop in to lure the Tottenham Hotspur star away:

CaughtOffside now can rule out Bayern Munich as a transfer destination for Harry Kane this summer following Christian Falk’s update in his latest Fact Files. The England international was a ‘dream player’ for the Bavarian outfit’s former sporting director, Hasan Salihamidzic, though it appears Thomas Tuchel’s men will be exploring alternative options.

“Harry Kane is said to have finally ruled out FC Bayern as a transfer destination. He was Salihamidzic’s dream player,” the Sport BILD journalist exclusively informed CaughtOffside. “Tuchel would have liked to bring him to Chelsea. At Bayern, however, he had concerns over Kane’s age and any potential problems that may arise when transitioning to the Bundesliga. Especially given that Bayern experienced this already with Sadio Mané.”

Erik ten Hag’s men are known to be admirers of the long-time Tottenham servant and could be set to take advantage of the striker’s contract situation with his current terms expiring in the summer of 2024.

However, the Red Devils are not alone in wanting Kane. Real Madrid is also in the mix (per Relevo, as captured by 90Min.com):

Harry Kane would prefer to join Real Madrid ahead of Bayern Munich and Manchester United this summer. He has just one year left to run on his Tottenham contract.

Per AS (as captured by 90Min.com), Kane is now the top priority for Los Blancos:

Real Madrid have now made signing Kane as their new striker their top priority for the summer transfer window.

Speaking of Real Madrid, the La Liga power is reportedly interested in bringing Chelsea FC attacker and Germany international Kai Havertz to Spain:

I still have a (probably wrong) hunch that Bayern Munich is going to get involved with Havertz at some point this summer. The 23-year-old has been on the radar of the Bavarians forever and has a natural connection with manager Thomas Tuchel.

Given how much things could change, a move to bring Havertz to Bavaria really will not shock me.

What a long, strange trip it’s been.

Bayern Munich somehow won its 11th consecutive Bundesliga championship as Borussia Dortmund suffered through a massive collapse — and somehow that was one of the least crazy stories of the week.

Admittedly, Bayern Munich fans have had a lot to process with everything, so what better way to do it than with the Weekend Warm-up Podcast and at Bavarian Football Works.

Let’s take a look at what is on tap for this week’s episode:

• Some thoughts on the title win and the massive fallout that saw CEO Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić get sacked.
• Who might be coming in: Juventus striker Dušan Vlahović and West Ham defensive midfielder Declan Rice.
• Who might be headed out: Benjamin Pavard, Lucas Hernandez, Leon Goretzka, and Alphonso Davies.
• Who is likely coming back (at least for a little while): Marcel Sabitzer.
• Why this might be the summer that Bayern Munich “goes big.”

As you can see, there is a lot to cover.

Eden Hazard’s career might be ending…unless he decides to try and revive it somewhere other than Madrid. Hazard and Real Madrid agree to amicably part ways and terminate his contract:

Fabrizio Romano also reported that Hazard will make a decision soon on whether to retire or push forward in a new location:

Man…what a talent Hazard was in his prime. It just seems like — at some point — he no longer had the drive or energy required to continue being great.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri is not sweating the Dušan Vlahović transfer rumours.

“I don’t talk about the transfer market, the club will take care of that and I can only give advice. Dušan still scored 10 goals despite the injury & the difficulties. He has all the potential to have an excellent career,” Allegri told Agenzia ANSA.

Depending on what you believe, Vlahović is at the top of Bayern Munich wish list…or not on it at all.

Borussia Dortmund star Raphael Guerreiro is probably going to leave BVB on a free transfer and might have narrowed down his choices to Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid:

Well who saw that coming? We were hoping for it, but didn’t expect Bayern Munich to deliver in this manner. When it comes to the league, Borussia Dortmund bottled it at the last minute versus Mainz, basically handing us the title — BUT Bayern still had to get the job done versus Koln and they did. It was a touch and go thing, but thank god (and maybe Brazzo) for Jamal Musiala. Anyway …

In this episode, INNN and Fergus talk about the following:

• Bayern Munich were completely unconvincing versus Koln and that’s unacceptable.
• Talking about the ruthless sacking of Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic by Bayern.
• Could Bayern have an FC Barcelona moment someday?
• The pros and cons of bringing back Rummenigge and Hoeness.
• Is it a mistake to not bring in a new sporting director for the summer?
• Wait, why was Oliver Kahn FORBIDDEN from attending the Koln game? What is going at this club?
• How is history going to remember Oliver Kahn and Brazzo?
• A quick aside — would Matthias Sammer come back as sporting director?
• The deep concern about the names rumored as potential future sporting directors.
• Dark clouds hovering over the long term future of FC Bayern Munich.
• Will the sacking of Brazzo spark concerns in players like Kimmich, Musiala, and Alphonso Davies?

Mario Götze has extended his contract with Eintracht Frankfurt through 2026:

Mateo Kovačić and Manchester City are nearing an agreement on personal terms per Fabrizio Romano:

Zlatan Ibrahimović is leaving AC Milan and will reportedly decided on whether or not to keep going very shortly: