Daily Schmankerl: Will Bayern Munich make a shock move for FC Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong?; Arsenal launches hefty offer on Declan Rice; Christian Pulisic to AC Milan?; Arsenal goalkeeper can rake; Mateo Kovačić moves to Manchester City; and MORE!

Bayern Munich is reportedly closing in a on deal with Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane, but would that be the first in a series of big moves?

Maybe.

One interesting situation to keep an eye on is Frenkie de Jong’s status with FC Barcelona. De Jong has long talked about his admiration for Barca and his desire to stay at the club, but the arrival of former Manchester City midfielder and Germany international İlkay Gündoğan could complicate matters for the Dutchman.

The aforementioned duo will join Gavi, Pedri, Franck Kessie, and Sergi Roberto in the midfield group, which might feel a little crowded to some of the players:

FC Bayern is looking for a reinforcement for the central midfield. After desired star Declan Rice (24 / West Ham) would rather stay in England, Bayern seem to have switched to Oranje clock Frenkie de Jong (26) from FC Barcelona according to consistent media reports.

De Jong has a contract with Barcelona until 2026. Manchester United were keen to sign him last season but he didn’t want to leave the Catalans. Has the upcoming Gündogan obligation made him rethink?

The midfielder moved from Ajax Amsterdam to the Spanish metropolis in the summer of 2019. His way of playing football would basically go well with Munich. The record champions are said to have shown interest as early as winter 2021. The Dutchman has a market value of €75m. Despite all the rumors of transfers, he was a regular at Barcelona for almost the entire season. Nevertheless, one would like to give him up for economic reasons. The problem: there are no interested parties.

As of now, though, Bild says that De Jong is not being considered by Bayern Munich…at the moment:

According to BILD information, de Jong is currently not an issue at Bayern. Chelsea signed world champion Enzo Fernandez for over €100m in winter, Arsenal prefer Rice, ManCity don’t need him, Liverpool are eyeing Bayern’s Gravenberch (five years younger). In the “worst case”, de Jong will fight with Gündogan for a regular place in Barça’s midfield in the coming season.

According to David Ornstein of The Athletic, Arsenal FC has upped his proposal to West Ham for Declan Rice into the realm that might get a deal done:

The funny thing is that Bayern Munich probably would not have balked at that price, but Rice did not want a move to Germany.

Arsenal FC goalkeeper Matt Turner showed up in St. Louis to take batting practice with the Cardinals — and was damn impressive:

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.

Mateo Kovačić has officially made the jump from Chelsea FC to Manchester City:

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano added the financial details on the deal:

Gladbach striker Marcus Thuram was on Bayern Munich’s watch list at one point, but is now on his way to Inter Milan:

The pride of Pennsylvania (clearly the greatest state) — Christian Pulisic — could be making the move from Chelsea FC to AC Milan:

Hakim Ziyech is leaving Chelsea FC for Al Nassr:

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.