Weekend Warm-up: Does Bayern Munich still have Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane on its brain? And why one legend…

Does Bayern Munich still have intentions of pursuing Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane during the summer transfer window? According to Daily Mail journalist Sami Mokbel (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), the Bavarians still have interest in the England international despite what other reports have indicated — and as sporting director Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidžić recently called nonsense:

Bayern hold a concrete interest in Harry Kane. A move to Manchester United also appeals to the striker, who is desperate to add titles to his prolific goal record. Kane will hold talks with Tottenham at the end of the season before making a final decision.
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Tottenham are reluctant to sanction a deal for Kane to finally leave this summer, particularly to a domestic rival. Spurs chairman Levy will want a minimum £100million (€113m) for the striker – a price that could inflate for a fellow Premier League side.

Interestingly, Bayern Munich legend Uli Hoeneß, a member of the club’s advisory board, told Sky Sport’s Torben Hoffmann that he cannot envision a move for Kane happening — unless people who share his thought process get outvoted.

“I can imagine a player that costs €100 million joining us — but in the case of Kane, I stated my opinion. He’s almost 30. Last year, Tottenham rejected €160 million from City. That’s why I said, in this case, it wouldn’t be a transfer for Bayern,” said Hoeneß. “I’m one of nine members of the supervisory board and have a say in big signings of over €25 million. I would say my private opinion. But I’m one of nine and if the other eight say he’s going to be signed, then he’s going to be signed. We live in a democracy.”

This is the rumor that simply will not die. Every time we think it gets buried, it comes crawling back out of the ground to wreak more havoc.

Does Bayern Munich still have interest in Kane? Probably.

Will Bayern Munich be a serious player for Kane during the summer transfer window? It’s doubtful.

It is hard to say that there is “no chance” when Salihamidžić is involved, but it seems like a lot of things would have to break right for this to happen. Kane would have to want to leave Tottenham and want a move to Germany, while Spurs leadership would have to be willing to sell him — and be able to secure what they believe to be a fair market value offer.

Even after all of that, Bayern Munich would have to gather the funds and get the okay from the advisory board.

That seems like a lot of hurdles to jump through for this move to take place.

Bavarian Podcast Works: Weekend Warm-up Podcast Season 2, Episode 35

What a week for Bayern Munich, huh?

The Bavarians took care of business domestically and in Europe and might have gotten over the hump from being a really good team to a great team in the process.

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

A preview on Bayern Munich’s upcoming Bundesliga match vs. FC Augsburg and why the squad needs to avoid a letdown.
Some thoughts Bayern Munich’s massive win over Paris Saint-Germain and what that means moving forward, including the stellar defensive showing, the dominant midfield, and how the attack is finally settling in. All that said, where does this leave Sadio Mané, Leroy Sané, and Serge Gnabry?
The latest details on the contract situations of Alphonso Davies, Lucas Hernandez, Sané, and Gnabry.
Bayern Munich might have already made the decision to let Manchester City loanee Joao Cancelo leave at the end of his loan. r

Song of the Week: “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” by Cage the Elephant

Damn…I am getting old.

“Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” by Cage the Elephant came out 15 years ago in 2008.

(Picks self up off the floor)

From the minute I first heard the song, I was hooked, purchased it, and it has been in my rotation ever since. Take a listen and enjoy:

Entertainment Rundown

The Last of Us

The penultimate episode of the first season of this show was both interesting and worrisome for a number of reasons. Let’s dig into where I fall on how this played out:

With Joel still laid up, Ellie ventures out to hunt, makes a kill, but runs into some new baddies, who are a nice of combo religious cult and cannibals. Ellie is able to barter for some medicine, but it turns out that these people are the same group that tried to capture Joel and Ellie just a few days earlier. Uh-oh.
Uh-oh is right. The group is out for revenge and plots to capture Ellie and kill Joel. While Ellie does end up in the pokey, Joel manages to shrug off being on his death bed, kill off a couple of his captors, and embark on a mission to free Ellie.
As it turns out Ellie did a pretty fine job of defending herself (through some crazy scenes) and eventually reunited with Joel to set up the season finale.
It would be easy to say that the religious-type cult and cannibal storylines were already covered in The Walking Dead, but The Last of Us really didn’t offer a new spin on the situation. In many ways, it was just another episode that did not advance the storyline. That does not mean that it was not good, but it also does raise some concerns that there might not be enough subject matter to carry this story for multiple seasons.
Overall, the episode was okay, but I am really starting to worry that there is not much left to the story. A couple of flashback-dedicated episodes and a few others where the storyline didn’t progress leaves me feeling a little worried about the future direction of the show. I used to kill The Sopranos for having “throwaway” episodes even though I loved the show. At least once every season (sometimes entire seasons were throwaways — Kevin Finnerty anyone?), there would be one, non-sensical space-filler that did not advance the story at all. I do think The Last of Us could potentially head down that road, but I am not ready to kill it off like a pervy, cannibal, cult member just yet. All that said, the season finale is up next and I’ve got high hopes that things will come together nicely. If not, it won’t be the first time that I’ve been fooled by HBO.

Predictions

Bayern Munich’s recent strong run of play could get knocked off track if the Bavarians don’t take FC Augsburg seriously.

Sure, Bayern Munich is deeper and more talented than 13th-place FC Augsburg, but looking past Die Fuggerstädter would be a disastrous mistake at this stage of the season. Knotted at the top of the table with Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich can ill-afford a lapse.

Knowing that, Julian Nagelsmann will surely have his boys raring to go — even if he makes a few lineup changes. While we are expecting a couple of different face to populate the starting XI, the group should be formidable enough to knock off FC Augsburg.

Prediction: Bayern Munich 3-0 FC Augsburg

Other Bundesliga Match Day 24 predictions include: