<b>Daily Schmankerl: Bayern Munich leading race for Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz; PSG rejecting deals for Neymar with Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez, Keylor Navas, and Ivan Rakitic all involved; News on Fiorentina’s Federico Chiesa; and MORE!</b>
<a href="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KZY46P0L0rcUHgp21WgFlEJQcUk=/0x50:1888x1309/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65088582/1162376024.jpg.0.jpg">Bayer 04 Leverkusen v SC Paderborn 07 - Bundesliga</a> Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images Warning: The thought of Leon Goretzka and Kai Havertz both rocking such glorious hair at Bayern Munich might cause spontaneous combustion. <a href="https://twitter.com/mano_bonke/status/1164274119367712771?s=20">Bayern leads the race for Havertz (@mano_bonke)</a>TZ journalist Manuel Bonke reviewed the Sport1 report that we <a href="https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com/2019/8/21/20825669/sport1-bayern-munich-competition-transfer-sign-kai-havertz-real-madrid-fc-barcelona-arsenal">covered on Tuesday</a> regarding the clubs that will be chasing <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/bundesliga/teams/bayer-leverkusen">Bayer Leverkusen</a> star and <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/teams/germany">Germany</a> international Kai Havertz next summer. As a refresher, Sport1 stated that <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/bundesliga/teams/bayern-munich">Bayern Munich</a>, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/la-liga/teams/real-madrid">Real Madrid</a>, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/la-liga/teams/barcelona">Barcelona</a>, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/arsenal">Arsenal</a>, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/manchester-city">Manchester City</a>, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/manchester-united">Manchester United</a>, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/chelsea">Chelsea</a>, and <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/liverpool">Liverpool</a> are all poised to jump in the bidding for Havertz. Bonke, however, thinks that Bayern Munich is far ahead of the pack in the race to procure the 20-year-old: Im Vergleich zu den anderen genannten Top-Klubs liegt der <a href="https://twitter.com/FCBayern?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FCBayern</a> bereits weit vorne im Rennen um <a href="https://twitter.com/kaihavertz29?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kaihavertz29</a>. Der Klub hat in den vergangenen Monaten ordentlich Vorarbeit geleistet. Für den Spieler ist - Stand jetzt - Bayern der nächste logische Schritt <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FCBTransfersommer?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FCBTransfersommer</a> <a href="https://t.co/gswxF1UNNq">https://t.co/gswxF1UNNq</a>— Manuel Bonke (@mano_bonke) <a href="https://twitter.com/mano_bonke/status/1164274119367712771?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2019</a>Compared to the other mentioned top clubs is the <a href="https://twitter.com/FCBayern">@FCBayern</a> already far ahead in the race <a href="https://twitter.com/kaihavertz29">@kaihavertz29</a>. The club has done a lot of preliminary work over the past few months. For the player — stand now — Bavaria the next logical step <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FCBTransfersommer?src=hashtag_click">#FCBTransfersommer</a>Could...it...be...happening? #ProjectBavarianMayhem2020 <a href="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-xrT0B8wfYORF7KihJ5wcVRHlXw=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19086080/Project_Mayhem.jpg">Media</a> <a href="https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Article/Barca-real-juve-ces-offres-refusees-par-le-psg-pour-neymar/1051055">PSG loves rejecting deals for Neymar (L’Equipe)</a>Want to see some of the deals for Neymar that Paris Saint-Germain has reportedly rejected so far? Journalist Tom Williams captured some of the proposals to date: Per today's L'Equipe, PSG have already rejected the following bids for Neymar:

- €40 million + Coutinho and Rakitic (Barcelona)
- loan with compulsory option to buy of between €160 million and €180…

<b>Daily Schmankerl: The aftermath of Bayern Munich vs. Schalke; Jerome Boateng rumor refuted; PSG wants “straight cash, homey” for Neymar; and MORE!</b>
<a href="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/i6JhSmDSvwZAjNoO5kl8MziriA4=/0x0:2131x1421/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65105721/1163608240.jpg.0.jpg">FC Schalke 04 v FC Bayern Muenchen - Bundesliga</a> Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images It’s been quite a week for Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski. <a href="https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com/2019/8/24/20830734/schalke-vs-bayern-munich-lineups-live-stream-how-to-watch-bundesliga-updates-highlights">Die Folgen: Bayern’s 3-0 victory over hapless Schalke (Bavarian Football Works)</a><a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/bundesliga/teams/bayern-munich">Bayern Munich</a> traveled to <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/bundesliga/teams/schalke-04">Schalke 04</a> only to see the home team turtle up and refuse to fully engage. Here are some quick hitters on the match: That Robert Lewandowski fella is pretty good. Another day at the office for the Polish Hitman resulted in a hat trick, giving him five league goals so far this season. I’m not mathematician, but I’d say he’s on pace for a pretty good year. I called for this <a href="https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com/2019/8/17/20809557/bayern-munich-timo-werner-ante-rebic-mario-mandzukic-philippe-coutinho-michael-cuisance-ribery">last week</a> — no offense to <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/bundesliga/players/187947/david-alaba">David Alaba</a> because he’s a terrific player — but I was happy to see Lewandowski (or anyone else) get a chance to tee up a free kick in an advantageous position. Niko Kovac got a little creative with his alignment, including using <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/bundesliga/players/257614/joshua-kimmich">Joshua Kimmich</a> as a midfielder. One has to wonder if Kimmich is going to slot into a defensive midfield role so that Benjamin Pavard can play right-back and there won’t be a center-back controversy with Pavrard, Niklas Sule, and Lucas Hernandez. I prefer Kimmich as a right-back, but I’m just some dude swilling coffee, while typing on a laptop. Pavard is not as offensively creative or aggressive as Kimmich as a right-back, which would be a detriment to the Bayern offense.Corentin Tolisso was better yesterday, but he’s still not back to himself, but this is all to be expected. I keep hammering this point home because I think if <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/bundesliga/players/199611/thiago-alcantara">Thiago Alcantara</a> and <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/bundesliga/players/253660/leon-goretzka">Leon Goretzka</a> were healthy, Tolisso would be able to ease his way back into a form rather than jumping back into the fire. I think this is so key to understand. Realistically, Tolisso should be on a much more limited game schedule than he is, but he also deserves credit for battling when he is clearly not 100% back to being himself.<a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/bundesliga/players/110254/manuel-neuer">Manuel Neuer</a> could have used a cot. Regardless, a clean sheet is a clean sheet. The Bayern central defenders played very well, albeit without much of an offensive threat from Schalke. For the sake of the Bundesliga, I was hoping Schalke would be a little more formidable this season, but they seem to be lacking some serious bite to their attack. Schalke goalkeeper and rumored #ProjectBavarianMayhem2020 target Alexander Nübel was impressive, despite allowing three goals. I guess that says something. If you missed our <a href="https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com/2019/8/24/20831200/bayern-munich-schalke-match-awards-robert-lewandowski-hat-trick-coutinho-perisic-coman-neuer-nubel">Match Awards</a> or <a href="https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com/2019/8/24/20831185/bayern-munich-observations-match-analysis-3-0-win-schalke-bundesliga-robert-lewandowski">Observations</a>, give them a look: <a…