Daily Schmankerl: Manchester United keeping close eye on Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt; FC Barcelona won’t sign Alphonso Davies; United won’t overpay for Frenkie de Jong; Barca wants RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Šeško; Harry Kane is a target; & MORE!

Manchester United is continuing to keep a close eye on the situation surrounding Bayern Munich center-back Matthijs de Ligt:

Manchester United are among the clubs keeping tabs on Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt, according to Calciomercato. The center-back has been restricted to eight league starts this season due to form and fitness, and was left on the bench in his side’s defeat to Bayer Leverkusen last weekend.

It’s claimed both Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain in particular are following the 24-year-old’s situation with ‘great attention’.

Erik ten Hag has already managed the defender when the pair were at Ajax and the latter could replace Raphaël Varane at Old Trafford. PSG, on the other hand, are looking at the Netherlands international due to Presnel Kimpembe’s physical problems.

Despite a meeting between his agent and FC Barcelona team officials, it does not appear like Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies will be moving to Catalonia any time soon:

Surprising reports emerged claiming that Barcelona director Deco had a meeting with Bayern Munich defender Alphonso Davies’ agent. The 23-year-old, whose contract with the Bavarians expires in 2025, is also a target for Real Madrid, but his agent held discussions with Deco as well during a recent trip to Spain.

It has sparked speculations about a potential summer move, especially considering that previous reports suggested Barcelona might be open to selling Alejandro Balde if a big offer came along. But now, a fresh report from Mundo Deportivo states that the signing of a ‘top’ left-back is not a priority for Barcelona for the summer.

Sources at the club say that left-back is not a priority position to reinforce with a top player because they already have Alejandro Balde, who is currently injured but who renewed his contract last September until 2028. The confidence and trust in the 20-year-old La Masia graduate is total and the Blaugrana are counting on him as a starter given his quality, demonstrated last season when he displaced Jordi Alba from the starting lineup.

England head coach Gareth Southgate thinks Eric Dier made a very positive move with his loan to Bayern Munich.

“I didn’t speak with Eric, but it’s a great move for him. Bayern Munich is an incredible football club – wonderful history. One of the biggest clubs in world football. So, for Eric it’s a great opportunity. He’s a really good guy. He has been a big part of our journey as a team. We wish him really well with that,” Southgate remarked.

Dier would seem to be a long way off from earning a roster spot for the Euros, but he has been very strong during his appearances with Bayern Munich so far.

Bayern Munich have now suffered a third loss in a row, losing 3-2 to VfL Bochum and essentially killing the team’s chances at winning the Bundesliga and… possibly putting the nail in manager Thomas Tuchel’s coffin?

In this podcast, Samrin and Rayyan discuss what went wrong against Bochum, what’s going wrong in general at Bayern, and what Bayern’s future holds in trying to fix things. Included in this pod:

• An overview of the VfL Bochum game, with lineups, a tactical discussion and general outlook of the match.
• Thomas Tuchel’s future at Bayern and why it should or should not end immediately.
• Bayern’s prospects for the managerial position if Tuchel were to depart now or in the summer.
• The problem with the players — a lack of motivation? Conviction? Or something else?
• Rayyan’s usual jabs at the existence of Twitter as a platform.

Manchester United wants FC Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, but will not pay more than it is comfortable with for the Dutchman:

Manchester United have told Barcelona they will not be held to ransom over Frankie de Jong. United have been long-time admirers of the Holland international, who is expected to leave the Nou Camp this summer. Barca bosses are willing to sell the midfielder for a fee in the region of £90m.

But new United joint-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is not prepared to meet the asking price, because he believes De Jong is overvalued. United value De Jong closer to the £70m mark and will not be prepared to get involved in a drawn out haggling process with Barca in the next transfer window.

Ten Hag would like to bring someone in who can become the long-term successor to Brazilian international Casemiro, who will turn 32 later this month De Jong, 26, was United’s top midfield target in the summer of 2022, but the English giants were unable to strike a deal with the Spanish giants. Both clubs became locked in talks over De Jong, but no compromise was found and Ratcliffe is keen to avoid this happening again during the close season.

Donyell Malen’s tenure at Borussia Dortmund has not exactly worked out like many had hoped, but Liverpool could be interested in the Dutchman:

Liverpool are, however, ready to advance their interest in Borussia Dortmund attacker and long-term transfer target Donyell Malen.

Malen certainly helped his case for a move with a really nice goal against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane is a target for many folks these days:

Former Nuremberg midfielder Valentina Maceri has said that Harry Kane picked the wrong year to come to Bayern Munich, adding that many at Tottenham will be quite enjoying the Bundesliga side’s struggles this season.

Maceri admitted that while Kane is the last person to blame for Bayern’s struggles, she suggested that the centre-forward made a mistake by leaving Spurs.

She told TV Play (as relayed by Sport Witness): “Kane left Tottenham because he never won a cup in his life, he arrives in Germany and after 11 years in a row Bayern doesn’t win the championship because Leverkusen, who have never won it won.

“In London, in my opinion, they’re dying of laughter. Jokes aside, Kane’s numbers and performances are extraordinary, unfortunately, an attacker needs assists, but he got the timing wrong.”

Kane has been very strong for Bayern Munich. There have been flaws with how he has been deployed (Are they on the coach or the player? No one knows), but Kane has not been even one of the big issues with the team this season. The Englishman has been productive and a good teammate. To me, the coaching staff has failed this team.

Bayern Munich is reeling, fans are angry, players are confused, and the coaches, well, the ship seems to have sailed on their messaging breaking through to these groups (much to their own fault).

So…yeah, the discussion points are there, so why waste any more time. Let’s get to it:

• Bayern Munich is in a rut and there is no easy way out given the current situation. Has Thomas Tuchel lost the team? He might have if that recent quote is true!
• There is no way that Thomas Tuchel is coaching Bayern Munich next season is there? If not, FC Barcelona has some culpability in how this all plays out.
• The board has culpability with Tuchel’s handling of Matthijs de Ligt.
• What is going on with Leroy Sané and why no one should really be shocked.
• Can Bayer Leverkusen Florian Wirtz or AC Milan’s Theo Hernandez change things for the lineup?
• Will the roster be headed for a massive overhaul next season?

FC Barcelona is keeping an eye on RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Šeško, who has loads of potential, but is caught up in a numbers game with Die Roten Bullen:

Barcelona are monitoring the progress of RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Šeško, whose contract includes a €50m release clause.

Bayern Munich star Harry Kane is enjoying his time with Bayern Munich and understands how incredible it is to be compared with Robert Lewandowski and Gerd Müller.

“To be compared with them names is a great thing, especially in the first season, so it means I’m doing something right. You know what I’m like, I like to take things in my stride. It’s strange, after playing in the Premier League and England, just to be in a different county – obviously I don’t know the language, thankfully a lot of people speak English,” Kane said. “It’s not easy and it takes a bit of getting used to. I’m just trying to take it day by day and slowly learn their ways, the way they do things. Even this [fan club visit] is unique. We didn’t have this before [in England] so it’s quite fun.”

Borussia Dortmund ended its Champions League match against PSV Eindhoven in a 1-1 draw after a very questionable penalty called on Mats Hummels. The veteran defender hit back on his X (Twitter) account:

You can check the play out at about the 7:20 mark of this video. Luuk de Jong buried the penalty attempt to knot the game at 1:

What a soft call.