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Midweek Warm-up: Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sané is at precipice of an enormous crossroads as…

When the Winterpause ends, Bayern Munich star Leroy Sané will be in the most crucial stretch of his career.

The Germany international wants to stay at Bayern Munich, but the club might be having doubts about reinvesting a massive salary into a player who has not always lived up the lofty expectations that have been placed on him.

Sané has picked up his play of late with two goals in his last two games, but it was not a banner first half for the 28-year-old. Injured to start the campaign, Sané then could not consistently unseat newcomers Michael Olise from the starting spot at right wing.

FC Bayern München v RB Leipzig - Bundesliga Leroy Sané is in limbo with his future.

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

In the last two games, though, Sané has featured on the left side, where he has looked more comfortable. It should be noted, however, that the time at left wing was forced by injuries to both Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman.

With his contract ending after this season — and a strong desire to continue on with the club — Sané will have to produce more than he has so far this season. Sané has five goals and one assist in 19 games across all competitions, but is making €15 million per season according to Capology.

As of now, a raise seems out of the question and Sané — at least publicly — appears to be open to accepting a pay cut, which could help his case. If, however, Bayern Munich opts to not bring Sané back, he still has a big reputation in Europe.

FC Barcelona and Sané’s old boss Hansi Flick are reportedly interested, but Sport (as captured by the Manchester Evening News) says that several other big clubs would want Sané — Chelsea FC, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur:

Spanish newspaper SPORT report that Premier League trio - Chelsea, United and Tottenham are interested in Sane’s services. Barcelona are also said to be monitoring his situation, having previously been offered to the Spanish giants.

Two things are clear:

If Sané wants to stay with Bayern Munich, he will have to be better and produce more.

If Bayern Munich opts to let Sané go, he will have no shortage of quality suitors.

As Little Carmine (the master of malapropisms) from The Sopranos would say, Sané “is at the precipice of an enormous crossroads.”

How will this play out?

Poll

Will Leroy Sané be back with Bayern MUnich in 2025/26?

0%

Yes - he will sign a new deal.

(0 votes)

0%

No - he is outta here.

(0 votes)

0%

It is too close to call at the moment.

(0 votes)

0%

I have no idea.

(0 votes)

0%

Bayern Munich needs to refresh the wing position, this is one way to help do it.

(0 votes)

0 votes total Vote Now

Bavarian Podcast Works — Flagship Show: Season 7, Episode 22

Here we go...it is time for the Winterpause and things are looking good for Bayern Munich. After downing RB Leipzig 5-1, the Bavarians seem in control of the Bundesliga at the moment, but it will not be easy to complete the job of securing the league crown.

Given everything that has happened over the past six months, there is a lot to talk about, so let’s get to it. This is what we have on tap for this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works Show:

Bayern Munich finished off the first half of the season on a strong note, but Bayer Leverkusen’s 5-1 win over SC Freiburg let the world know that the reigning champs are not done just yet. Are we set up for an epic battle for the Bundesliga crown?

Bayern Munich’s biggest surprises of the first half.

Bayern Munich’s biggest disappointments of the first half.

Where Bayern Munich can be better in the second half of the season.

Can Bayern Munich win the Champions League as currently set up?

Entertainment Rundown

Joker: Folie à Deux

Man...what a disappointment. Let’s get this going bullet-style:

Everything from where it picked up, to the tone, to way it was shot was perfect for a sequel, but what caused Todd Phillips to veer so badly off the rails is beyond me.

Every musical scene was a time-wasting pile of garbage. I can appreciate that there was probably some good musical value that is escaping me, but it was wholly unneeded.

Having Arthur Fleck go from insane and brazen to all of a sudden self-aware because he (might have) been gang raped by prison guards (depending on what you want to believe that scene was all about) was an odd choice. The trauma did not enrage him or make him more off-kilter, it sobered him up. Which seemed completely out of place for Fleck.

Even though the movie had already went in the toilet, the car bomb scene gave it one last chance to save itself. It could have culminated with a giant swerve where Joker was just setting everyone up. Nope...all of a sudden, he is not conniving or evil, but simply mentally immature, incompetent, and naive. It was a total middle finger to the audience, who invested time and money into the movie and the character.

The first Joker was tremendous and this one was, well, terrible. What Phillips was trying to prove remains open, but whatever it was it failed and it made for a terrible movie — despite having all the elements to be successful once again.

Overall, I cannot believe any studio gave this the green-light when it was written to take away everything that made the first movie brilliant (a true look at an origin story). What garbage. The only reason that it gets any rating at all is because the actors and others working on it did their jobs with aplomb, but the writing was a horrific trainwreck of epic proportions...which is really sad.

Rating: 3.00/10.00

The 12 Non-Traditional Christmas/Holiday Songs on My Playlist

Here is a little holiday tradition we have here at the Weekend/Midweek Warm-up: There are many, many great Christmas songs that would not be labelled as “traditional” and I could probably write 50,000 words on all of them, so I just decided to feature this list to 12 of those on my iTunes playlist (in no particular order):

1. Tom Petty: “Christmas All Over Again”

Did you expect anything else?

2. The Kinks: “Father Christmas”

Come on...The Kinks lambasting Christmas is terrific.

3. Big & Rich: “Drunk Christmas”

I am generally not a “country music” guy, but I am all about a drunk Christmas. I have plenty of country music-loving friends, but I just haven’t been able to catch that vibe. Still, these guys reference Rumple Minze (soooooo bad) and any song that can work that in automatically wins me over.

4. Run-DMC: “Christmas in Hollis”

Just a classic...

5. Wham: “Last Christmas”

Go ahead and roast me...I like the song.

6. Dropkick Murphys: “The Season’s Upon Us”

Just awesome...

7. Billy Squier: “Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You”

It’s definitely more “Christmas-y” than “The Stroke”, eh?

8. The Pogues: “Fairytale of New York”

This one has a little more meaning given the passing of Shane MacGowan in 2023.

9. The Whirling Dervishes: “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch”

A hard take on an old classic.

10. Blink-182: “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas”

Doing a Christmas song in the only way that Blink-182 could.

11. Chuck Berry: “Run Run Rudolph”

A rock-n-roll classic.

12. Pretenders: “2000 Miles”

Chrissie Hynde’s voice in this one is something, eh?

Let’s add some others for everyone’s enjoyment. Most of them were submitted by one of you over the years:

Weird Al Yankovic: “The Night Santa Went Crazy”

Adam Sandler: “Chanukah Song”

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts: “Little Drummer Boy”

Billy Idol: “Yellin At The Christmas Tree”

Dent May: “I’ll be Stoned for Christmas”

The Darkness: “Christmas Time”

Mistletoe Conspiracy: “Ugly Sweater”

Lou Monte: “Dominick the Donkey”

Bob & Doug: “12 Days of Christmas”

Cheech & Chong: “Santa Claus and his Old Lady”

The Waitresses: “Christmas Wrapping”

Gwen Stefani: “Under the Christmas Lights”

Just like previous years, drop me your non-traditional songs in the comments. I had a blast checking them out last year.

Prediction Records

Last Week Bundesliga: 4-5 (Through Matchday 15)

Overall Bundesliga: 64-71

UEFA Nations League: 81-66

Champions League: 60-48 (Through Matchday 6)

DFB-Pokal: 40-16 (Through Round of 16)

Total: 245-201

Perfect Picks: 41 (when the score and winner is predicted exactly)

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