Germany

How fast is Leroy Sané? The 22-year-old Manchester City winger experienced a somewhat subdued first season in England, but he exploded into life last year after scoring 10 goals and adding 15 assists in 32 Premier League appearances. The native of Essen, Germany, was named the PFA Young Player of the Year for his contributions to City’s march to the title, but he was curiously omitted from manager Joachim Low’s World Cup squad (we all know how that turned out for die Mannschaft).

Bayern Munich ran rampant against Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2018 German Super Cup — the curtain raiser for the German season — by posting a 5-0 victory thanks to a 33-minute hat-trick from rumored want-away Robert Lewandowski. 

This was a rematch of last season’s improbable DFB-Pokal final, where Eintracht shocked Bayern 3-1 with Niko Kovac in the dugout for die Adler. With Kovac now patrolling Bayern’s touchline as the successor to Jupp Heynckes, this match belonged to FC Hollywood from start to finish.

FC Barcelona and Arturo Vidal have agreed to personal terms on a $35 million transfer from Bayern Munich. Barcelona's been in a frantic search for an excellent midfielder after Paulinho was loaned to Guangzhou Evergrande. Vidal is rumored to be visiting Camp Nou for a signature-sealing meeting by the end of today.

The rumors were confirmed Wednesday that 17-year-old Canadian phenom Alphonso Davies would be joining Bayern Munich come January on a transfer that could rise to as high as $22 million, but for now, the Vancouver Whitecaps winger is free to continue his breakout season in MLS — Saturday night was perhaps his best performance as a professional.

It’s not quite the #MeToo movement, nor is it a Pokémon. But the #MeTwo movement in part inspired by Mesut Özil is evolving into something quite powerful, something that’s been building for decades. 

Alphonso Davies is no stranger to the world stage despite being just 17 years old. After an MLS transfer record deal with Bayern Munich, he’ll be a regular on it.

International football’s governing body revealed its candidates for the FIFA Best Women's Player award on Tuesday, the winner of which will be announced at the Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony in London in two months.

Here is FIFA’s list of the nominees up for the award:

Alphonso Davies, the 17-year-old Canadian phenom who we’d really like to see race Kylian Mbappe, was omitted from the Vancouver Whitecaps match against Seattle on Saturday with multiple outlets citing well-developed talks between the MLS side and German power Bayern Munich.

Last night, some kid named Christian Pulisic decided what better time to light things up than back at home in the U.S. of A. against the Champions League runners-up/the team that has a growing interest in him. 

Mesut Ozil has retired from international football at the age of 29, citing “racism and disrespect” from the German football federation (DFB). Ozil had 92 caps for Germany and helped the nation capture third place at the 2010 World Cup before lifting the trophy in 2014. The Arsenal playmaker issued a detailed statement on Twitter with the main contents concerning the fallout of his meeting with Turkish president Recep Tayyip before the World Cup.

Here are his statements in full, read them (click/tap) before commentating: