According to a report from Sport Bild’s Christian Falk and Tobi Altschäffl (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), Bayern Munich and Serge Gnabry are getting very close on a new deal.
Gnabry, who has experienced a revival this season, is looking at a two-year contract extension worth €15 million to €16 million per season if he hits all of his bonuses:
Serge Gnabry is close to extending his contract at FC Bayern. There’s an agreement in principle between the club and the player’s camp regarding the numbers. A
new 2-year deal until 2028. Performance based contract with a salary worth a maximum of €15-16m gross per year if all bonuses are met.
This will come much to the chagrin of many Bayern Munich fans, who have lamented Gnabry’s place on the roster this season — let alone two more. Gnabry, though, has been good overall as he has tallied five goals and seven assists in 20 games across all competitions this season, while mostly filling in for injured star Jamal Musiala.
Gnabry’s versatility likely appeals to Bayern Munich as the Germany international can be a good backup at all four attacking positions. That kind of positional flexibility could allow Bayern Munich to roster at least one less player for the attack for 2026/27 and 2027/28, which could help free up more cash for other positions.
At this stage, it is hard to imagine a deal not getting done between Gnabry and Bayern Munich.
Song of the Week: “Bittersweet” by Big Head Todd & the Monsters
We are looking to slow it down a bit this week as we run into the final game of the unofficial end of Hinrunde, which is always a little bittersweet.
What better way to do that than with a song literally titled “Bittersweet” by the uniquely named Big Head Todd and the Monsters. Released in 1993, this was the biggest song for the group, so give it a listen:
We will have our traditional holiday edition of the Warm-up dropping next week with some non-traditional songs for the season. Given how busy some folks might be on Wednesday and Thursday, we will drop it on Tuesday.
Olise update
According to a report from Sky Germany (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), Bayern Munich attacker Michael Olise is expected to play on Sunday vs. Heidenheim after having a minor eye surgery last weekend:
Michael Olise is expected to be available against Heidenheim on Sunday following the minor eye surgery he underwent last weekend.
An eye surgery is not exactly something to trifle with, so if Olise is playing, it likely means he is fully cleared and ready to go.
That is some bad luck for Heidenheim.
Entertainment Rundown
It: Welcome to Derry
With any season of any show, you just want an apt conclusion.
A way to finalize things (or leave them open if needed) that leaves an audience satisfied. With It: Welcome to Derry, you got just that.
It was not always an easy ride through the season. There was some Neymar-level time wasting, some plot holes, some overacting, and some odd twists, but overall, it ended up very good.
The final episode of the season for this HBO horror/thriller show brought it all home in a good way…a satisfying way. Let’s get into it:
- The military aspect to the season’s plot was always a reach…a major reach. In the finale, that proved to be true. There was no way to wrap up that storyline aside of how they did it…and it did not fully connect. If there was a weak point to the final, it was ham-handed handling of General Shaw just thinking Pennywise would take orders. It was absolutely ludicrous. In a sense, the writers had to rely upon the “people just forget when they leave Derry”-part of the story to explain how this never becomes a deeper military issue. Again, some major plot armor there.
- I know writing is tough and to do it well in a captivating way is extremely difficult, but this was a true weakness to the show.
- Aside of that, the actual story around the demon/spirit/alien, the kids, and the affected families did come together nicely. We got a lot of information that was helpful to understand the nature of It, the relevance of the characters, how they are related to the movies, and some other cool nuggets.
- The interactions of the characters, the arc for each one, and how they connected did not some together nicely for everyone except Taniel, who was easily the most tortured character of the show. That guy had zero luck!
- Before we get into the more spoiler-y type quick hits, the final point for any show is the feeling of worth. Was this show worth your time as a viewer? For this author, the answer is “Yes”, mostly because of my fandom of the movies. If you did not like the movies or you just tried to come at this without ever having seen them, then you probably did not get It (see what I did there?).
Some very spoiler-y final points:
- Mike from the movies being a descendent of the Hanlons is a nice tie-in. I should have mentioned that earlier, but have avoided spoilers as much as possible from week to week.
- The revelation that Pennywise operates without a sense of time (the past, present, and future are all the same to him) adds a very spicy element to the story. We know that in 54 years from the end of the show, he meets his demise at the hand of “The Losers”, so how is he still wreaking havoc in the past? This part was a bit confusing, especially because Pennywise told Marge that her son would eventually take him out. It does leave some room for craziness.
- And about that prophecy for Marge, her son being Richie (one of the great characters from the movie) was a really nice tie-in as well.
- The continued dive into the origin story of It was great and well done. To see how Pennywise became It and having Dick Halloran use his powers to get into the mind of It to flush it all out was well done, too.
- Oh, and Halloran’s little line about the hotel was incredible.
- The end of the show — particularly how it tied into the movies was a really nice twist.
- Overall, the show accomplished what it set out to do — be a good prequel to the movies and expand on the world of It.
Episode Rating: 9.00/10.00
Season Rating: 8.50/10.00
Predictions
Bayern Munich will visit Heidenheim looking for three points and likely very motivated to putting a beating on the home side.
Last weekend’s draw with Mainz 05 left the Bavarians wanting more and there is a good chance that this match will not result in a “getaway game”, where players lose focus ahead of a break. After the Mainz draw, that all went out the window.
Expect Harry Kane and the attacking to put the pressure on Heidenheim tot he point where the home team’s backline feels like it cannot breath. We expect a big win…
Prediction: Heidenheim 0-5 Bayern Munich
Other Bundesliga predictions include:
- Hoffenheim 2-1 Hamburger SV
- Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 FC Köln
- Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 VfL Wolfsburg
- Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 FC Augsburg
- SC Freiburg 1-3 Borussia Dortmund
- Union Berlin 0-2 RB Leipzig
- SV Werder Bremen 1-3 VfB Stuttgart
- St. Pauli 1-1 FC Heidenheim
Prediction Results
- Total: 323-168
- Perfect Picks: 32
- Bundesliga Last Matchday: 5-4
- Bundesliga Overall: 71-46
- DFB-Pokal: 45-11
- World Cup Qualifiers/Friendlies: 99-45
- Champions League: 65-43
- Club World Cup: 39-23
- Club Friendlies: 3-0
- Franz Beckenbauer Supercup: 1-0
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
