Christian Falk’s Fact Files – Klopp CONTRACT truth, Sane to replace Salah? Newcastle could STEAL Fulham target, Kane future & more
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Today’s exclusive transfer round-up from Bundesliga insider Christian Falk, featuring Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund, Fulham, Frankfurt and more
Today’s top stories:
- Jurgen Klopp’s plan amid reported Liverpool contract offer
- Plenty of interest in Leroy Sane ahead of crunch Bayern talks
- And further updates on Youssoufa Moukoko, Harry Kane, and more!
BAYERN MUNICH
Harry Kane is feeling very happy in Munich, he’s found his house and will be doing much better when his family is with him. His needs are being fulfilled, everyone admires him, his teammates love him because of his behaviour. He’s doing so well in the team. There is, as I’ve previously mentioned, a ‘matching right’, which allows Tottenham the right of first refusal should Kane move away from Munich at some point in the future. However, I don’t think there’s a chance at the moment of an early exit from Munich, as he’s only at the beginning of his career at Bayern. He wants to win titles at Munich. For him, it’s a big move to leave Tottenham and England but now he’s done it he’s aware of the many advantages that are available to him. He certainly has a bit more freedom when he’s out of the house; the people of Munich are very respectful and he can a little bit more easily. He’s not as central in the focus as he was in England. I don’t think there are any thoughts on his end of leaving Bayern Munich in the next few years.
Liverpool’s interest in Leroy Sane is concrete. You can compare him to the man he might end up replacing at Anfield in Mo Salah; they both have speed and Sane is certainly younger. Bayern Munich are aware of the interest and after the international break they will meet the agents, LIAN Sports Group, to talk about an extension. They really want to keep him and Sane said that Bayern is the first club he will be talking to. His family has arrived in Munich after their new house was built and the player is feeling happy.
Liverpool fans: Is Leroy Sane the ideal Mo Salah replacement if the Egyptian leaves in the summer?
You never know what will happen with such talks. When Sane came to Munich during COVID-19, he was okay with earning €20m a year, but now they will talk about money. It’s always good to have other suitors at the table like Liverpool, but it’s no secret that Barcelona is also quite interested. The big question is whether the Catalan giants have the money! You also have to keep an eye on fellow La Liga outfit Real Madrid who are also interested in him.
Nobody knows what’s going on with Kylian Mbappe who will play a key role in all of this, as Liverpool and Real Madrid are interested, which complicates this transfer carousel ahead of the summer. Bayern will fight to hold on to Sane, but if Salah does move to Saudi Arabia, there will be a big player on the table. We have to watch these names and these three clubs!
The big question around Leroy has always been about his mentality. This was a big discussion with Pep Guardiola. Speaking of which, there were rumours around Manchester City also being interested in the player – I heard this was an option, but I also heard that Sane doesn’t want to go back there. Jurgen Klopp is a coach who can get his players to buy into the work rate you need at Liverpool. This would be an intelligent move for Liverpool to get Sane, as he has everything; if you can add a working mentality to this (which Jurgen Klopp can perhaps give him), he would be perfect for Liverpool. Leroy Sane made a huge development at Bayern Munich regarding his work rate in recent years, tracking back in addition to his offensive output. Now you see why he’s so good now, as he’s also doing this job.
Thomas Muller told us that he wants to play until 2025, and this is a signal to Bayern Munich that ‘now we have to talk’. His contract ends this summer, so we have to see whether Bayern will give him another contract. The surprising thing is he left open what would happen if Bayern says ‘no’. I’m sure Muller will leave the door open to continue elsewhere if need be. In this same story, I noted that Manchester United wanted Muller last winter; it was Erik ten Hag’s idea to add some much-needed experience to their squad. Perhaps it could be an idea again for United this winter! Thomas Muller doesn’t want a long-term contract – he wants one more year. The first thing is Bayern for Muller and if they gave him the money and contract he wants, he’ll stay. If not, he’ll move for the first time in his career. If there’s a club in the Bundesliga playing Champions League football, he could imagine himself there as well. But there aren’t so many playing Champions League and he couldn’t go to Dortmund, so we’re probably in the range of Leverkusen. If United come in again, this would also be very interesting for him.
BORUSSIA DORTMUND
I think FC Koln would be a good option for Youssoufa Moukoko and we know they’re definitely interested in him. It would also be good for Germany, as he needs playing time. In the summer there was the option to move over as part of a swap deal with Werder Bremen for Niclas Fullkrug, but this didn’t materialise as Moukoko wanted to stay. Now, however, he’s aware of his lack of playing opportunities amid Fullkrug’s positive form and the availability of Sebastien Haller. So he’s the third-choice option in the striker’s position. I think he has to move, regardless of whether it’s a permanent transfer or a loan, for the benefit of his development. Now, I think, he knows it’s time.
FRANKFURT
Rafiu Durosinmi has a big chance to be the next striker at Frankfurt. There are talks to get him in the Bundesliga. He’s 20 years old, which is always a risk but he’s not the only option. There’s also Roko Simic of RB Salzburg, a very interesting player and there were also talks with the club and with the agents. The agents are based in Frankfurt so that’s not a long way to go for the club! I think it will be a choice between the two strikers, both 20 years old, so you see Frankfurt want to have a striker they can develop into both a financially viable and high-performance option. Gift Orban of Gent is not No.1 on the list anymore. Sheraldo Becker of Union and Fotis Ioannidis of Panathinaikos are also on the list, but I think it will be a toss-up between Simic or Durosinmi. I think Roko Simic would be further ahead in his development, but the decision is Frankfurt’s to make.
FULHAM
Serhou Guirassy is already aware that he can make a move in January as he has a release clause of €17.5m that can be activated at this time. VFB Stuttgart is still fighting for him, but it’s not a lot of money! Not much for the Premier League certainly. In the summer, we already mentioned about his opportunity to go to the UK amid interest from Fulham but he didn’t, as he wanted a better opportunity. I’m not sure Fulham is the right club.
Newcastle United are on the table and might be a more attractive option as a Champions League club. We’ll have to see if he’s still playing for Stuttgart until the summer or if he capitalises on his release clause in the winter. It’s just a question of the offer and Newcastle would be a fine deal for Guirassy.
GERMANY
When Julian Nagelsmann took over the reins at Germany, we’d all hoped for a fresh start and that he’d come in as a young coach with his new ideas and push the national team. After a good start, however, we’ve lost the last two and Nagelsmann’s average is now worse than all national coaches that came before.
We wonder whether he’s making things a little too complicated; there’s always a difference between a club coach and a national coach and he’s putting a great deal of input on the players in a short space of time. He’s not a hugely self-critical person and how Kai Havertz has been used has gone some way to illustrating that. I don’t think Havertz is playing poorly as a left-back in the national side – he’s done it very well for an offensive player. Interestingly, we’re not allowed to call him a left-back, as Julian Nagelsmann insists he’s not a left-back but rather a ‘left joker’. I think it works when Germany are playing against defensive sides but I don’t want to think about the national side playing against the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Kingsley Coman or Ousmane Dembele in this position. I think they’d then need a really good left-back in the defence – this is not Havertz.
Germany wanted a team of 11 players who could play together for the European Championship, but now we have a coach who is again experimenting. This could be a little bit dangerous. Julian Nagelsmann is quite stubborn, but I hope he’s thinking about recent events. There’s a big shadow cast over him by Rudi Voller, the sports director. After Hansi Flick was sacked, Voller took over one game against France, which was very good! So, Germany always has in mind the possible eventuality that Voller could take over if things don’t work out with Nagelsmann. Nagelsmann must be aware of this whilst he tinkers and experiments with the setup.
That’s not to say there wasn’t any success from the experimentation, with Pascal Gross of Brighton perhaps the biggest winner of all. He’s a great worker – and this feeds into what Nagelsmann said about there needing to be more workers in the side – and he did this very well in the United States. He didn’t play in the last few games because Nagelsmann tried Joshua Kimmich in this position behind Ilkay Gundogan and Leon Goretzka. However, the combination of Gross and Gundogan appears to be the best – so Gross is the big winner, at the moment, amid the disaster. He can put himself in greater focus in Germany. Interest in the player has already arisen as a result. Frankfurt has an eye on Gross. Gross said his big wish is to return to the Bundesliga at the end of his career, so this could now happen and you see the interest is there.
LIVERPOOL
A reported contract offer in the works for Jurgen Klopp is not a big topic at the moment. It’s not Klopp’s plan – it’s too early for that. I don’t think Liverpool have pressured him on this. It was surprising for everyone that Jurgen signed his last contract so early, so I don’t think this will be discussed until he’s closer to the end of his current terms. You see what is happening in Germany with the national team… I think this is a big target for his future, so that’s why he won’t sign a new contract so early.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Marvin Ducksch to Nottingham Forest could happen. It’s not just up to the player, it’s also up to the club, and they’ve got a lot of money problems at Werder Bremen. They didn’t have a great financial year and found themselves in the red with -€3.8m. That was why they had to sell Fullkrug to Dortmund and why they’d also be prepared to take advantage of Ducksch’s value. He is very cheap for a striker, earning €2m a year. He’s the best German striker of 2023 with 14 goals in 30 games; only Guirassy and Kane are better. He’s a player who would fit in the Premier League perfectly, as he’s willing to run and fight and he’s quick. It would be an interesting option for him.
We asked him last week if he could imagine a change and he didn’t say ‘no’. He didn’t say yes but if someone says ‘ah, I have to concentrate on Werder Bremen’, you always know there is something in the air! I think if you could get a German national player and a very good striker for, I heard, €15m – it’s not a big risk, so perhaps it could happen.
RB LEIPZIG
There are no offers at the moment but it is true that Leipzig would sell Peter Gulacsi. I heard that Gulacsi himself does not want to go; he wants to stay and take his chance. He’s a little disappointed in Leipzig that he hasn’t been given a chance after the many years he’s spent there. He can see what happened at Bayern Munich when Manuel Neuer spent a long period in the treatment room and then they welcomed him back with open arms after a patient wait. That doesn’t happen at Leipzig, though the new No.1, Janis Blaswich (32), is hardly young either. Regardless, Gulacsi wants to stay and show the club that he’s still the right man. I don’t think something will happen in January.
Timo Werner is not playing at RB Leipzig, so I can’t imagine that he’d get game time at Real Madrid – I think that rumour is far from the truth. We asked Frankfurt if there is interest and Markus Krösche said he’s no topic. Werner is a sensitive player and didn’t have a great time in the Premier League, so I can’t imagine he’d be prepared to return. There was some interest from Newcastle, but I’m not sure he’d want to move again. I heard he’d likely stay at Leipzig in the hopes of things improving. Another movement wouldn’t be good for his game, as if he’s not confident he’s not doing well and he’s not playing any more for the national team. So I don’t think he’s ready for another transfer.
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