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:

• Have Man City lined up Kevin De Bruyne’s successor?
• Barcelona could snap up key Bayern Munich star on a FREE!
• And further updates on Matija Popovic, Donyell Malen, Florian Neuhaus and more!

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