Daily Schmankerl: Arsenal eyeing Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich; Chelsea wants Leon Goretzka; Christian Pulisic already making bank for AC Milan; Is Harry Kane’s “word” good enough?; Real Madrid, Bayern. PSG scoping youngster; and MORE!

Arsenal FC does not want to be left out of the mix and is now interested in Bayern Munich’s no longer untouchable midfielder Joshua Kimmich:

Arsenal could be set to move for Bayern Munich superstar Joshua Kimmich in a bid to complete their squad.

The Gunners are currently out in the United States ahead of their fixture against the MLS All-Stars in which several new signings will be on show. Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz have all joined for a combined £200 million, while Mikel Arteta has stressed that more transfers could yet be made.

Thomas Partey is linked with an exit – and now, Bayern’s change of policy could allow star midfielder Joshua Kimmich to leave.

It remains extremely doubtful that Kimmich will leave the club at all, let alone this summer, but that is not stopping a multitude of teams from expressing interest. If Kimmich really is available, he certainly will have no shortage of suitors.

Speaking of Bayern Munich midfielders potentially moving to the Premier League, Chelsea FC might be interested in Germany international Leon Goretzka:

Chelsea are interested in signing Bayern Munich star Leon Goretzka. That is according to well-respected journalist Simon Phillips. Phillips reported on his Substack earlier today that Leon Goretzka is a Bayern Munich player that does interest Chelsea right now. He adds that the Blues have liked the 28-year-old midfielder for some time.

Also, the Germany international could be up for sale in this transfer window, so there’s a chance he may exit the Allianz Arena. Goretzka, who should now be entering his prime years at the age of 28, has already had a fabulous career to date.

The opinion of former Chelsea star Michael Ballack is certainly one appreciated by supporters around Stamford Bridge. After all, the retired German midfielder won seven pieces of silverware during his time with the Blues. Speaking in an interview with Sport1 a few years ago, Ballack made a comparison between his game and Chelsea target Goretzka. He said: “I noticed the comparisons with Leon Goretzka. His style of play is similar to mine from before. Leon has a big advantage as a midfielder: he’s dangerous. These players make the difference.”

Another week, another crazy period for Bayern Munich news.

While there were no major breaks in the club’s pursuit of Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane, there was still plenty of moving and shaking going on. We had a lot of weird news break…some true, some not, some probably falling somewhere in between.

Let’s taking a look at which topics we’ll dive into for this edition of the Weekend Warm-up Podcast:

• A brief look at where things stand with Kane after Uli Hoeneß went scorched Earth on Tottenham.
• Ahead of a potential move to Al Nassr, a look back at Sadio Mané’s tumultuous tenure at Bayern Munich.
• Assessing the rumors regarding Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, and Marcel Sabitzer.

Depending on who you believe, Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane might have given Bayern Munich his word that he will be joining the club:

Paul Gilmour has stated that while Bayern Munich believe Harry Kane has “given his word he will join them”, Sky Sports have been told he’s “not closing off any avenue” yet.

Reports of late seem to suggest Kane’s future is closer to being decided than it ever has been. While there’s always interest in him, multiple approaches such as those Bayern have made have not been seen before. The German giants seem adamant they’re going to land the striker, and that’s not without reason. A few months ago, there was interest in the Englishman from Manchester United, though that seems to have vanished.

Indeed, Bayern seemingly feel he has communicated his decision to join them. While Sky Sports‘ Gilmour reiterates that belief, he feels they are getting ahead of themselves, as Kane’s not ready to make a decision one way or the other. “It’s a complicated story in that Bayern believe that Kane has given them his word that he will join them, but we’re told Kane is not closing off any avenue at this moment in time,” Gilmour told Last Word on Spurs.

There’s seemingly still a decision to be made over Kane’s future. Previous reports have stated the striker is ‘keeping an open mind’, and it’ll take ‘significant progress’ this season to make him pen a new deal, which, if true, would suggest he’s planning to stay for now. If that’s not the case and he does want to join Bayern, though, they’ll still have to overcome the issue of Tottenham’s valuation in order to snare Kane.

“There’s a lot of noise around this, but the fact remains that the clubs are apart in valuation,” Gilmour added. As such, it still seems the striker’s future is up in the air, and it remains to be seen if there’s an answer on where he’ll end up this summer or not.

Every time Christian Pulisic becomes available, people wonder why so many clubs are eager to bring in a player who has struggled to stay healthy and get on track. Well…there is a pretty good reason (aside of what the USMNT star brings to the pitch):

In this episode of the flagship show of Bavarian Podcast Works, Tom and Schnitzel discuss:

• Not exhausting the Harry Kane rumors
• The proposed Pavard/Walker swap deal between Bayern and Manchester City
• How Bayern’s defense is shaping up overall for next season
• Will Noussair Mazraoui play over Pavard or Walker?
• Should Sadio Mane definitely leave for Saudi Arabia?
• What went wrong for Mane last season
• Tuchel’s prospects of being Bayern manager long term. How long will he last?
• Would Kane coming put more pressure on Tuchel?
• Bayern’s plethora wide attacking players
• Should Bayern keep or sell Serge Gnabry

Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Paris Saint-Germain are among the clubs taking a look at Lille center-back Leny Yoro:

Real Madrid have made it a habit of going for the signing of the best young talents across the globe in recent years. That policy has helped them secure the signings of players like Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo Goes, Eduardo Camavinga, and more recently Endrick and Arda Guler.

Over the past few months, apart from signing Guler from Fenerbahce, Los Blancos have been showing interest in several other young prospects such as Ivan Fresneda, Izan Merino, Robert Renan, and Matheus Franca, among others.

Now, a fresh report from journalist Fabrice Hawkins claims that Real Madrid are also interested in Lille’s 17-year-old centre-back Leny Yoro and have already made an enquiry for the teenage prodigy. Yoro has been with Lille since 2017 and has made tremendous progress at the French club. Given his immense potential, the 17-year-old defender has been fast-tracked to the first-team setup as he made his senior debut for Lille in May last year, aged 16 years and six months.

However, Los Blancos are not the only European giant whose interest has been piqued by Yoro as Bayern Munich and PSG have also made enquiries for the teenager. For now, though, Yoro will remain at Lille for the upcoming season and Les Dogues will try and tie him down to a new contract, with his current one expiring in 2025. As far as Real Madrid’s interest is concerned, it remains to be seen if there is any progress made beyond the initial enquiry.

Inter Milan wants to try and pay a lower fee for Bayern Munich goalkeeper Yann Sommer:

As reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Inter are in a hurry to pick up a new goalkeeper and will send their first offer to Bayern Munich for Sommer within the next 48 hours.

His €6m release clause expired a few days ago but the Nerazzurri had no intention of paying this, instead aiming to sign him for around €4m.

Talks with the Bundesliga giants have been ongoing for the last few days now but a deal hasn’t been closed out yet as the German side also need a new goalkeeper.

After completing a deal for Sommer, Inter will turn their attention to Anatoliy Trubin, who Shakhtar Donetsk want around €30m for.

Of all of the transfer moves this summer, Bayer Leverkusen attacker Moussa Diaby moving to Al Nassr (if it goes official) is the most bizarre:

At just 24 years of age, Diaby did not exactly fit the profile of the type of player who had made the move to Saudi Arabia this summer.

As it turns out, Diaby might have just been using Al Nassr as leverage. Fabrizio Romano reported that the Frenchman inked a deal with Aston Villa:

That was a long period without Bayern Munich, wasn’t it?

The Rekordmeister are back, for the season 2023-24 and there’s a lot going on — from new players, to an interesting scenario involving who’s in-charge. Starting the season off with an easy game against FC Rottach-Egern, we won 27-0 (!!). Featuring the new additions Konrad Laimer and Raphael Guerreiro, the new era of Bayern looks rather exciting and we’re all in for it.

Here are our talking points from the game:

• A quick recap of what went down last season, what’s different from then to now
• Hype for the new transfers — Kim Min Jae, Laimer and Guerreiro
• Opinions on Laimer and his role under Tuchel
• Re-emphasis on Jamal Musiala’s qualities and how he has improved this season
• Mathys Tel’s future at this club looks pretty good!
• Marcel Sabitzer and an extended rant about his time here so far
• Disappointment with Sadio Mane (and a slightly snarky remark)
• Injuries galore!
• First half vs second half — critiques, praise and whatnot