🚨 Christian Falk's Fact Files - Keep an eye on Jamie Gittens!

Today's exclusive transfer round-up from Bundesliga insider Christian Falk, featuring Bayern Munich, Manchester United, RB Leipzig, Brighton & Hove Albion and more

[From left to right: Christian Falk, Xavi Simons & Florian Wirtz]

Today’s top stories

• Could Xavi Simons be off to the Premier League at the end of the season?

• Will BOTH Florian Wirtz and Xabi Alonso stay at Bayer Leverkusen for another year?

• What’s next for Bayern Munich prodigy Mathys Tel this summer?

• And further updates on Jamie Gittens, Rayan Cherki, Karim Adeyemi and more!

BAYERN MUNICH

True✅: Bayern would have liked to have sold Mathys Tel in the January transfer window. In fact, they were very disappointed that, at the last moment, Tel said, ‘No’ to a permanent move to Tottenham. That was before the weekend, but during the weekend it seems he wanted to stay at Bayern Munich. So, this is how the loan deal with Tottenham eventually came about. Tottenham were really fighting for this release clause - Bayern initially refused and then agreed on a €60m release clause. Bayern see it as a success that they managed to agree a big loan fee, which could rise to €10m, which is a lot for only six months. If they manage to then sell Tel in the summer, by their calculations they could earn as much as €70m, which would mean they’d get a lot of money back from their Harry Kane purchase (€100m) back in 2023. If you think about it that way, they would have only spent €30m for Kane - that’s cheap!

There were also talks with Manchester United who were interested in Mathys Tel’s signature. Tel was certainly open to the move, but United weren’t prepared to pay the loan fee Bayern Munich were demanding at the time (€5m). So, you see, there was a huge difference to the offer Tottenham came to the table with. Whether Tel stays with Bayern beyond the summer or moves on, it’s entirely up to him. If he can make the step to United, he would like to do it. If he sees a chance at Bayern Munich, perhaps he would also stay, but I think it’s hard for him, as he didn’t make it under Vincent Kompany. So, I think if he is performing very well, he will stay in the Premier League. If he doesn’t, he has to go back to Bayern and start again. All in all, though, Bayern are the big winners in this case, as he wasn’t getting game time in Munich, so they’ll get some money from the loan, they don’t have to pay his salary, and, in the end, they get either a transfer fee or a player with Premier League experience. A good solution!

BAYER LEVERKUSEN

(Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

True✅: Victor Boniface is very disappointed after his transfer to Saudi Arabia fell through. He could have earned €45m a year (net) for three years. It was hard for him. It’s worth pointing out that Leverkusen would have also received a sum of €70m from Al-Nassr. The club was fine with this outcome, of course, given they didn’t want to sell him in the first place. That said, they would have agreed on an exit for a fee of about €50m or more. Leverkusen is, ultimately, a selling club, so this would have been a good deal for everyone. But in the end, Xabi Alonso is very happy to keep this player, as he has plenty of quality. On Thursday, Boniface scored an extra-time winner against Cologne to send Leverkusen through to the semi-final of the DFB Pokal. So, he’s still very important for the club. Because he’s worrying a little, the club is thinking about getting him a new contract with better conditions and extended by a year.