Christian Falk’s Fact Files – Arsenal & Xavi Simons latest, De Bruyne’s successor & more

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Today’s exclusive transfer round-up from Bundesliga insider Christian Falk, featuring Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Gladbach, Manchester City and more

Today’s top stories:

BAYERN MUNICH

First of all, Matthijs de Ligt had a big injury – a torn inner ligament in the knee that had him ruled out for 42 days in the first half of the season – and now they were at the training camp in Portugal, returning yesterday, and there he again had something go wrong with his knee, so he has just a small chance to play at the weekend. The main thing is he was bought whilst Hasan Salihamidžić was at the club to lead the defence. In the club, they see that this solution isn’t working very well with Thomas Tuchel. Tuchel wants his centre-back to play a first ball out directly to the offence, and not sideways. This is very important for the Bayern boss. So, the two guys aren’t a particularly great match. The bosses of the club have seen this, which is why they are thinking about selling him in the summer if there is a suitable offer. Remember, when he first arrived, it was under Julian Nagelsmann and now there’s a new coach! They initially paid a lot of money for him (€67m). They’re already searching for new centre-backs. If it all works out and De Ligt is searching for a new challenge, he will be on the market in the summer. In the winter it didn’t work out, as he wants to show that he’s good enough for Bayern Munich.

I’m not sure if Newcastle United would be Joshua Kimmich’s first option for a potential move away from Munich! They probably won’t play Champions League football next year, which would be a no-go as far as the player is concerned. I think Newcastle also have to sell a few players to get anyone in. As you see, they have asked about him, which is a signal that Kimmich could be on the market. The Bayern star himself is his own agent – so you have to talk to Kimmich if you want to sign him! I talked to Kimmich and his opinion, at the moment, is that a January transfer is not an option, but he didn’t say “no” to a summer move.

But, there will be talks with Bayern. I talked with Christoph Freund (Bayern’s sporting director) and they are saying he’s an important player and they will talk to him because Bayern doesn’t want him to leave the club in 2025 as a free agent. So, in the view of Bayern Munich, there has to be a decision in the summer – a new contract or selling him. The price, in that latter case, would be about €50m they hope. I think Kimmich has another idea; he would have no problem with staying at Bayern for one year more. The club that was always paying a lot of attention to him and admiring from afar was FC Barcelona. They don’t have the money to sign him this summer, but it could be a good option for Kimmich to go there as a free agent in 2025. As his own agent he could get the signing fee, the agent fee and the salary, so it’s a win-win situation for Barcelona and Kimmich.

Florian Wirtz will be the No.1 option for Bayern Munich. At the moment, it seems he will stay until 2025 when Leverkusen should go into the Champions League. The other thing that may have an impact on Wirtz is whether or not Xabi Alonso is staying as manager. These are the two main things. That’s why Bayern Munich are surely watching other players and everyone sees what Xavi Simons is doing at RB Leipzig. But Leipzig themselves are pushing to get him for one more year on a loan deal, until 2025. This is the first thing which has to be decided. Bayern have him on the list, but I think for this summer, they have many players on the list for this position and Simons will be particularly expensive if PSG would be prepared to sell him. So I think there will be other clubs that also knock on the door; Leipzig have heard of Bayern’s interest and interest from Arsenal. This could be one of the clubs. There are also rumours of Barcelona – but they have no money! Rumours of Inter Milan… I also think this wouldn’t be a No.1 option.

Bayern are having a look on the market and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting is not currently in line to get a new contract. At the end, Joshua Zirkzee is not the No.1 option, at the moment, for this position. Bayern Munich has a buy-back option, about €20m. They will also get money if Zirkzee is sold – 50% of the transfer fee. Another player who went on loan was Arijon Ibrahimovic, currently playing for Serie A’s Frosinone. He could be sold this summer but the Bavarians will have a buy-back option of €11m. I heard Manchester United and Arsenal are also interested in Zirkzee. If one of those clubs would buy him, Bayern will get 50% of that transfer fee of course.

Matija Popovic (18) is, at the moment, at Napoli. It seems that he will sign there and then get loaned to Frosinone. What is interesting in this case is that Bayern Munich made an offer. Manchester City were very interested in him; Txiki Begiristain (the Sky Blues’ director of football) had a two-hour negotiation with the club when City were playing Red Star Belgrade, his old club, on March 13. It was the last Champions League group game and there were negotiations because Pep Guardiola wanted this big talent. Now the agent was changing and there were many complications – he’s a free agent at the moment – so City didn’t get involved in this game and withdrew the offer.

Nordi Mukiele is the No.1 option as a right-back for Bayern. Mukiele has already had talks with Luis Campos saying he wants to leave – I heard he’s had these talks three times with the PSG executive. Bayern wants to get him but I heard also that PSG is opening the door because of Mukiele’s efforts. He’s played at Leipzig before PSG, so he knows the Bundesliga very well.

Eric Dier is fighting for a contract at the club. Bayern have an option they could activate for 2025 but there are also other candidates being discussed, including Allessandro Buangiorno (Juventus), Jean-Clair Todibo (Nice) and Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan).

As far as potential options for the No.6 role are concerned, Martin Zubimendi (Real Sociedad) is more highly rated at Bayern than Fulham’s Joao Palhinha. There are talks for a summer transfer with the player’s management. Zubimendi has a release clause of €60m.

BAYER LEVERKUSEN

I think Leverkusen are very clear when it comes to Florian Wirtz. He wants to stay until 2025 if there’s Champions League football and Alonso is staying. But, there is an agreement in the club that he could leave for a fee of €130m minimum (there is some talk of €150m minimum). At the end, at both prices, there are not so many clubs that can pay that. There’s only one which is indeed interested, watching him very closely and can pay this amount – and that’s Manchester City. I think Bayern Munich will be out of the race with this asking price. If Manchester City make the move, they have a big chance to get the player. Pep Guardiola seems to be a big fan of him! He can play many positions (he’s not a like-for-like for Kevin De Bruyne but he can play this position). He could be a potential successor for De Bruyne perhaps, playing the position in his own way, which fits perfectly with Guardiola.

BORUSSIA DORTMUND

Dortmund changed their mind over selling Donyell Malen in January for two reasons. One being the lack of a concrete offer, as of this moment, for Malen. He changed his agent but that hasn’t helped. The other reason is Karim Adeyemi’s injury, so they’re going to need him for the rest of the season as well. He played well in the last few matches, and one thing to also consider is the arrival of fellow Dutchman Ian Maatsen. The hope is these two players can push each other on to improve their performances throughout the remainder of the season. Malen is still considered sellable in the summer but, for now, he has to stay.

There have been times when Malen has played very well at Dortmund. He’s currently on six goals and two assists for the season, so he’s not playing poorly. However, he’s not particularly consistent with his performances and Dortmund now hope that if they offer some encouragement, and Maatsen can help improve his self-confidence, to deliver a strong set of performances in the second half of the season, they could improve his value. At the moment he’s valued at €35m. Perhaps Dortmund can get a little more this summer.

Giovanni Reyna was widely considered a wonderkid when he started out at Dortmund – everyone thought he would be the next Mario Gotze. At the end, he picked up a few injuries, which was the problem in this case, and now he’s fallen behind up-and-coming players like Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, for example. Now, he’s pushing for a transfer, which is why he’s changed agents to Jorge Mendes’ Gestifute. They’re trying to get him on the market; Marseille have made an offer, there’s also Real Sociedad, Monaco, Lyon, Seville, Villarreal, Benfica. It’s not the highest level of clubs but they are doing everything they can to ensure he gets the most minutes on the pitch, as he does have a lot of talent. Dortmund wants €15m, so I think this is possible.

He has everything you need to succeed but sometimes it just doesn’t work out. Christian Pulisic was an example of this; everyone thought he would do it but he just didn’t develop in the end. Reyna is young enough and has the talent but now he needs another challenge so he can get the minutes and prove it with his performances on the pitch. I think he can do it still.

Maatsen, of course, has a release clause of £35m (about €40m), which is a lot of money for a club like Dortmund. There is a chance, of course, it’s up to him and his performances. There’s still a big question mark over Ramy Bensebaini who’s currently away at the AFCON. If he doesn’t perform better than Maatsen, Dortmund will think about the buy option, but at the moment they don’t have a Jude Bellingham or Erling Haaland to sell in the summer, so we will have to see if they have the money. At the moment, they’re very happy they have Maatsen here, as he’s getting on very well. I think it was very easy for him to come in. Perhaps it’s merely down to the fact that the Dutch and Germans are neighbours and they’re always watching the Bundesliga on TV – perhaps it’s easier as a next step for him than the Premier League.

GLADBACH

Florian Neuhaus started the season very well, but there are currently problems with the coach Gerardo Seoane. He should play this weekend as others in his position are unavailable through injury. But he is pushing to get a transfer this winter. He had a new contract signed and in this new one there isn’t a release clause (there had been one in his prior contract). There is no concrete interest from a club yet. Two years ago there had been concrete talks with Liverpool. But at the moment he isn’t getting a chance to perform, so I’m not sure that he can go to this level of club directly. Gladbach want to push for a loan deal as he’s one of the top earners. If there is a club who needs to fill his position, he’d be very open for a transfer.

MAX EBERL

Max Eberl has agreed with Bayern Munich to become their next head of sport. Now they are working on the deal, as Bayern have to pay a transfer fee to Leipzig because he’s still under contract. We’re talking of an amount around €5m. It’s planned that Eberl will start in March or, latest, April at Munich. So, one man off the market.

It’s the same time that Liverpool will start talks with Jorg Schmadtke again. So, perhaps this is a sign that he will do one more transfer window with the club. That wasn’t always his plan, but, of course, it hadn’t been his plan to get back into football with the Premier League! It’s always good to talk with Schamdtke and ask his wife if she is allowing that, as he promised he’d stop working! But I don’t rule out that there’s a chance Liverpool could extend his contract.

UNION BERLIN

Union Berlin have signed Chris Bedia from Swiss side FC Servette to replace Sheraldo Becker as striker. 10 goals and three assists have been recorded by the forward this season.