🚨 Christian Falk's Fact Files - Could Marcus Rashford sign for Bayern Munich?

Today's exclusive transfer round-up from Bundesliga insider Christian Falk, featuring Bayern Munich, Manchester United, RB Leipzig, West Ham and more

[From left to right: Christian Falk, Marcus Rashford & Joshua Kimmich]

Today’s top stories

• Are Bayern interested in signing Marcus Rashford from Manchester United?

• Do Liverpool have a chance of beating Real Madrid and Man Utd to Alphonso Davies?

• West Ham may have a solution to their Niclas Füllkrug problem…

• And further updates on Joshua Kimmich, Randal Kolo Muani, Jeremie Frimpong and more!

There’s a very interesting discussion taking place in Germany at the moment. You have Thomas Tuchel, now the national coach with England, who was the subject of some heavy criticism during his time at Bayern Munich. However, on paper, he was two points better off in the Bundesliga at this point in the league; he was performing better in the Champions League; and both coaches (Vincent Kompany and Tuchel) were out of the DFB Pokal at this stage. So, you see, Tuchel, by comparison, was performing slightly better. When you talk to players in the Bayern squad, Kompany is appreciated a little more by comparison. The feeling is better inside the club, because he’s closer to the players than Tuchel was. So, there’s a bit of a debate as to who performed better at Bayern Munich. What’s interesting by this point as well is the tactical side of the debate.

Tuchel made big moves establishing Eric Dier and Matthijs de Ligt in the heart of his backline, whilst putting Kim Min-jae and Dayot Upamecano on the bench. However, he was very successful in the Champions League. This was his big selling point as a cup coach. On the playing style side of things, Kompany’s style is more attractive. That said, in the top matches against the biggest sides - the Belgian has struggled! He lost against Barcelona, he couldn’t beat Dortmund, Frankfurt or Leverkusen (losing against Xabi Alonso’s men in the cup). The only team he beat at this level was PSG. This is the one things fans and commentators are keeping an eye on. Will he be able to raise Bayern’s level in the biggest games? Overall, analysing the whole performance, things looked slightly better under Tuchel. However, despite the fact Tuchel’s side was two points ahead in the league in 2023/24, Bayern now find themselves four points clear at the top of the Bundesliga in 2024/25 (albeit without having to deal with as challenging a Bayer Leverkusen side). Even if Vincent Kompany’s men lose against Leipzig today, they’re still going to be top of the tree going into January. So, it’s an interesting debate!

It’s too early to tell, as far as making a clear evaluation is concerned. I like the style under Kompany and I hear a lot of good things from the players. I think it’s always the most important thing to have the dressing room behind you as a coach - he has this! But, that’s Bayern Munich. If you lose in the big matches in the Champions League, things can get difficult.

BAYERN MUNICH

(Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images)

True✅: Jonas Urbig is still on the shortlist at Bayern Munich. In last week’s column, we talked about Bart Verbruggen at Brighton. The problem Bayern have is that they’re searching for a new goalkeeper who is okay with sitting on the bench, as, according to our information, Manuel Neuer will sign a new contract until 2026. Daniel Peretz wants playing time, so Bayern are thinking of guaranteeing this by securing a loan deal in the summer. So, they need a No.2. Sven Ulreich will go back into the No.3 position if he’s still at the club by that point. So, yes, Urbig is one of these players that Bayern are keeping in mind, but there’s still a question of whether he would be open to being a backup goalkeeper. We have one example, Alexander Nübel, who was always No.2 behind Neuer when he came in from Schalke. He’s now on loan at Stuttgart. It’s very hard for a young player to have this position behind Neuer, but you can also learn a lot if you stay and then get a loan deal. Bayern are very keen at the moment on the loan deal model with the goalkeeper position because it’s working for them.

True✅: Bayern Munich have made a decision that Kingsley Coman is not for sale this winter. Newcastle were always interested, but Bayern feel that his recent injury means they won’t get a good price for his services. Kompany also decided that he needs Coman’s quality to get results and hit various key targets throughout the season, so he has to stay until the summer. The player is also keen to stay put. Then, in the summer transfer window, there will be a new decision.

True✅: Manchester City are interested in Joshua Kimmich. Pep Guardiola has been given the green light to go shopping in the upcoming window to fill the gap left by Rodri’s ACL injury. Kimmich could play this position, but the problem is that he won’t be for sale in the winter. Guardiola, of course, was the coach who made Kimmich into a big star, having brought him into the team from RB Leipzig, and eventually gave him his first-team debut, back in 2015. There is still a relationship and it’s worth pointing out that he’s still yet to sign a new contract at Bayern. Kimmich is certainly open to hearing other offers, potentially from other clubs like Barcelona. Hansi Flick, also a former coach at Bayern Munich, is interested. Pep Guardiola, it seems, as well. Kimmich previously made a significant change to his management behind the scenes and is the only professional, at this level, who is his own agent. So, he’s talking about his contract with Bayern directly. But, he’s now got a new agent on his team, Thomas Behesti, the former team manager at the German national team. He’ll do many things for Joshua Kimmich, like marketing. He’ll still make his own decisions regarding contracts but now you see there is an agent if someone has an interest in getting in touch with Kimmich. Behesti, of course, from his prior role, has a network to rely upon. So, Kimmich is not only focused on Bayern Munich. It’s not his only solution, but I think it’s his still favourite one for the time being.

💬 Who should Man City try and sign if they can’t get Kimmich in January?

BAYER LEVERKUSEN

(Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images)

True✅: Leverkusen are in concrete talks about Florian Wirtz’s new contract until 2028. It’s not signed yet and they are still in talks. The family, who are his agents (his mother and father), see it as a positive thing if he can develop at Bayer Leverkusen for one more year. I know we have the World Cup in 2026, and at the moment it’s not clear if anyone will pay this €130m-150m price tag this summer, so this could ensure he stays. But there also rumours, and only rumours at this stage because nothing is signed (he has no release clause in his old contract), that if he signs he won’t make the same mistake as last time when Bayern Munich were in talks with him about a move to Säbener Straße. At that point, he had signed a contract without a release clause. This time, it’s said there are talks underway about including a release clause for top clubs like Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich. But, they’re still in talks, so there’s nothing concrete just yet. This could be the key, however, in ensuring that he does sign a new contract with Leverkusen.

BORUSSIA DORTMUND

❌Not True: That Dortmund have lost faith in Nuri Şahin despite the fact the club is underperforming in 2024/25. They want to get back to the top under Şahin. With a 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich, he proved that Dortmund can still play at a top level, whilst the results secured in the Champions League so far are also okay. They’re still close to the top and could qualify directly to the Round of 16. This is not normal in this new format. Dortmund want to work with Şahin until the summer at the very least rather than have to fire another coach.