Christian Falk’s Fact Files – Bayern’s fire sale if Nagelsmann returns, Musiala to Man City? & more
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Today’s exclusive transfer round-up from Bundesliga insider Christian Falk, featuring Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool and more
Today’s top stories
- How many players could Bayern Munich sell if Julian Nagelsmann returns?
- Is Jamal Musiala’s future in Munich certain?
- Rumoured talks between Carlo Ancelotti and Xabi Alonso…
- And further updates on Mario Gotze, Kingsley Coman, Niko Kovac and more!
BAYERN MUNICH
FC Bayern’s search for a coach is still open. Julian Nagelsmann has not yet decided whether he would go back to his former club. He also has the option to extend his contract as Germany coach until 2026. There are already negotiations with the club and the association. If Nagelsmann and FC Bayern came to an agreement, there would be two stars on his strike list. Leon Goretzka and Serge Gnabry will then be sold. Bayern are prepared to invest €200m this summer, but this will be funded by potential sales. A decision on Nagelsmann’s future is expected to come in the next few days. At the moment it’s 50/50 on where he will end up.
There has been repeated interest in both players from the Premier League in the past. Manchester United is watching Goretzka, Arsenal is watching their former player Gnabry. Neither is hot at the moment, but it could become so quickly. If there will be no offers for Gnabry, Bayern would also talk about selling Kingsley Coman. For the Frenchman, there was also interest in the past from Manchester United.
Good news for Bayern: Leroy Sané signaled that he would talk about a new contract with the club. The current one runs until 2025.
Bayern already have a replacement in mind for Gnabry: Chris Führich of VfB Stuttgart. The German national player has been a fan of FC Bayern since his childhood. He has an exit clause of up to €23.5m. Borussia Dortmund were also interested, but cannot afford the player. FC Bayern is currently the big favourite for the transfer.
Bayern also already have plans for the place in midfield that would be freed up by selling Goretzka. FC Bayern is still looking for a defensive midfielder for the new season. Joao Palhinha from Fulham FC is no longer an issue. It is still unclear whether the desired transfer of Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad will work. That’s why Bayern continue to monitor Amadou Onana from Everton FC. Since the 22-year-old Belgian also played for Hamburger SV and Hoffenheim, he speaks German.
There is still no decision regarding the future of Alphonso Davies. Davies has let the ultimatum for his new contract with FC Bayern expire. The club had offered him a salary of around €14m. Bayern now want to sell him in the summer. But Real Madrid has not yet made an offer. If nothing happens, Bayern would be willing to renew their offer to Davies. But: Not at higher conditions. Bayern are watching Miguel Gutierrez in the meantime. The first name on the list for this position was Theo Hernández but AC Milan made it very clear that it would be hard to get him. Gutierrez could then be the best option – especially given he won’t be as expensive! Of course, everything depends on Alphonso Davies. It’s the kind of move that will become serious should Davies leave this summer.
Since there is still no decision regarding Nagelsmann, Bayern are still looking at Roberto De Zerbi. The fact that the Brighton coach recently said publicly that he doesn’t want to leave his club shouldn’t fool anyone. Because De Zerbi is not only interested in a top outfit like Bayern, he is also a big fan of the city of Munich. The background to the secret love is: De Zerbi has a friend at FC Bayern whom he has visited several times. Gianni Bianchi is a physiotherapist at FC Bayern; the Italian once came to FC Bayern with Luca Toni, former striker and world champion. Bianchi showed De Zerbi the city, which apparently fascinated the coach. Munich is considered the secret “northernmost city” in Italy. No wonder that the Italian coach can imagine a move.
Other candidates for Bayern are still: Ralf Rangnick, national coach of Austria, and Roger Schmidt, Benfica Lisbon. There were rumours from Spain that Bayern had a meeting with Zinedine Zidane. But the club denied it to me.
I sat this week with Oliver Kahn, who was fired as CEO of FC Bayern in May last year. Kahn thinks big. Under his leadership, the bosses had the idea of bringing Harry Kane to Bayern. Even now, Kahn says that Bayern also has to think about Kylian Mbappé. Also true to the motto: Think Big!
Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic tried hard to get Haaland in 2022. As I have now found out, there was even a secret meeting with Erling Haaland and the club bosses at the time in Munich. This shows that Haaland was seriously considering the Munich option. However: Financially, the Munich team could not keep up with Manchester City.
BAYER LEVERKUSEN
Bayern Munich are planning with Josip Stanisic in mind for the next season. For the player himself, he would love if Xabi Alonso came with him to Munich – it would make things a bit easier! Of course, this isn’t going to happen. Because Stanisic is returning, Bayern will try and sell Noussair Mazraoui to make room for the 24-year-old. This is a good thing for the Munich club, as Mazraoui first came to Bayern as a free agent, so they will earn a lot of money for him.
In the case of Alonso, everyone always had this impression – similarly to Fernando Carro’s (Leverkusen CEO) comments – that he could end up at Real Madrid one day. You can see the masterplan at play, as it’s easier to say no to Bayern Munich and Liverpool when you know that Real Madrid is waiting for you in one or two years. There are rumours that Carlo Ancelotti has had talks with Alonso about this option but this hasn’t been officially confirmed. This is no doubt something that would appeal to Alonso, for one because he’s a family man and this is the kind of move that would appeal to his family. It’s also good for him as it gives Alonso time now to develop at Leverkusen. He also knows the structure at Madrid as he was not only playing there but ended up coaching the U14s side to earn his UEFA Pro Licence.
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT
The MLS is a serious potential option for Mario Gotze this summer. I think he’s the kind of a guy who would attracted to the lifestyle in New York, but we’ll have to see.
LIVERPOOL
Manager Niko Kovac was most recently released in Wolfsburg. Suddenly he is considered a candidate for Liverpool FC. He himself publicly downplays the interest. However, I learned that his agents were actually in England. It is also true that his agents have spoken to Liverpool FC. The result: Kovac is not one of the top candidates at Liverpool. But it is also true that he is on an extended list of candidates who are not yet an issue but which the club is monitoring.
MANCHESTER CITY
Manchester City are seriously interested in Jamal Musiala. Liverpool and Chelsea are also keeping an eye on the Bayern star. That said, it’s not like Musiala is putting pressure on his employers to leave Munich. First talks will be with the management of Bayern Munich. Musiala’s entourage wants to see a plan for the future, not just for himself, but also for the club. Progressing to the semi-final of this year’s Champions League was a good argument for Bayern Munich. The talks with Bayern will take place in the summer and they will try everything to keep hold of Musiala. They have to also show him their plans to develop his career; they have to show him it’s possible to have a similar career to Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid whilst staying in Munich. They have to show him he can be an international star without leaving the Bundesliga. There will be more money, of course, on offer to sweeten the deal.
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