Daily Schmankerl: The latest on Bayern Munich’s plans for Harry Kane, Victor Osimhen; Liverpool, Manchester United still in on Kim Min-jae?; RB Leipzig pushing for big deal with Manchester City on Josko Gvardiol; Declan Rice to City?; and MORE!

Monday saw multiple reports break regarding Bayern Munich’s rumored interest in Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen.

There were varying levels of optimism related to each report, but now, Sport Bild journalist Christian Falk is putting out his details on the situation (as captured by @iMiaSanMia):

It would be interesting to know who Bayern Munich fans would like to see suiting up at the Allianz Arena next season…so let’s do it:

Napoli center-back Kim Min-jae could be getting close to inking a contract with Bayern Munich…or maybe Liverpool FC and Manchester United will try a last minute swoop? Let’s see what the word is:

Kim Min-jae looks to be closing in on a move to Bayern Munich, having been linked with a move to Liverpool earlier this year.

The South Korea international impressed as he helped Napoli claim its first Serie A title in over 30 years last season, having only made the move to Italy last summer. His form has seen him heavily linked with a move to the Premier League, with Liverpool and Manchester United having both been touted as holding an interest in his services (as per Foot Mercato).

But L’Equipe now claims it is Bayern Munich that has won the race, with the Bundesliga champion now willing to let Lucas Hernandez leave the club as it closes in on the $71m (£56m/€66m)-rated defender.

However, Sport Witness captured a report from RAI’s Ciro Venerato, which indicates that Newcastle United could be trying to steal the South Korean defender from out of Bayern Munich’s grasp:

First said to be heading to Manchester, the latest on Kim Min-jae’s future has all been about a move to Bayern Munich. However, Newcastle United, perhaps still running on all the adrenaline from the Sandro Tonali deal, gave it a go at the last minute.

That’s according to RAI’s Ciro Venerato, relayed by Calcio Napoli 24, who revealed on Domenica Sportiva about the Magpies’ attempt. He said: “We reconfirm what was said: Kim chose Bayern, but there has been a call from Newcastle in the last few hours to Naples. However, the club then learned from the player’s agents that he has now chosen Bayern.”

Therefore, Newcastle, knowing they would have to trigger the release clause in Kim’s contract to get a deal done, still tried their luck to see if they could convince the South Korea international to direct his attention to Tyneside rather than Bavaria. However, it was not meant to be, the defender appears intent on heading to Bayern this summer after just one year at Napoli.

As for Newcastle, they will have to make do with Tonali and someone else to bolster their defence, with David Hancko recently said to be of interest to Eddie Howe.

Even with that last minute effort from the Magpies, Bayern Munich’s deal with the center-back looks solidified.

Manchester City midfielder and Germany international İlkay Gündoğan is off to FC Barcelona and now the details of the transfer agreement are out:

The FC Barcelona Twitter account made the signing formally official as well:

It has been a wild week at BFW.

Germany is floundering. Bayern Munich looks like it will struggle to get world class, impact players for the key positions that it needs.

Most of us are perplexed at the thought of how any of this will work out, but hey, if talking about this helps us all sort through things, let’s get to it with the latest episode of the Weekend Warm-up Podcast:

• Lamenting the state of the German national team, Hansi Flick’s failures, and what a starting XI might look like for the Euro 2024 — and why the best lineup probably won’t ever get featured.
• Checking in on Bayern Munich’s latest transfer rumors, including the club’s persistent approach to staying in the game for Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane.

Jadon Sancho could be one of — gasp — 13 (!?) players to be sold off or loaned away from Manchester United this summer:

The exodus at Old Trafford could stretch to 13 players, with Jadon Sancho another marquee name tipped to leave the club.

If you were Sancho…would you consider a move (loan or transfer) back to Borussia Dortmund?

RB Leipzig has reportedly set its asking price for prized center-back Josko Gvardiol:

RB Leipzig have made it clear to Manchester City that they expect a world record fee for a defender in order to let Josko Gvardiol go, 90min understands. City have long regarded Gvardiol as one of their top summer targets – already revealed by 90min in April – and now they are pushing on with talks for the Croatian star. Sources have confirmed to 90min that talks between Gvardiol’s representatives and City have gone well and personal terms are agreed ‘in principle’ leading to confidence that a deal will soon happen.

Negotiations between the two clubs are now ongoing, with Leipzig seeking a sum that surpasses the £80m that Manchester United paid Leicester for Harry Maguire in 2019 – the current world record transfer for a defender. Although City are keen not to go as high as the €100m (£85.5m) that Leipzig are looking for, they do recognise that a world record bid is likely required to get the deal done.

Manchester City might also be going through the process of ensuring Declan Rice actually wants to join the club (if it is about money and trophies, why wouldn’t he?) before lobbing a bid to West Ham:

Manchester City are seeking assurances from Declan Rice that he wants to join the club before launching a bid for the £100m-rated West Ham and England midfielder.

In this flagship episode of Bavarian Podcast Works, Tom and Rayyan (known on the site as CCyler) discuss:

• The two signings; Laimer & Guerreiro.
• Can Laimer play as a number 6, or is that not his strong suit?
• Where Guerreiro will best fit in the squad, tactically speaking.
• Kim Min-jae’s expected arrival from SSC Napoli to replace Lucas Hernandez.
• Will Tuchel start to use a back three system more often?
• Bayern’s plethora of center-backs vs. wide backs.
• All of the strikers linked with Bayern.
• Realistic percentage chances Harry Kane will leave Tottenham for Bayern.
• Bayern’s goalkeeping situation with Tapalovic set to return.