Liverpool and Bayern Munich appear to be in a straight tussle to sign Bayer Leverkusen No. 10 Florian Wirtz, who has been urged not to sign for a rival.
With Man City pulling out of the running on Monday amid claims the deal would be too costly, Liverpool find themselves up against Bayern as they vie for Wirtz’s signature.
The Times‘ Paul Joyce reports that Bayern “have been considered as favourites” but Liverpool are “trying to persuade him to opt for a new challenge in the Premier League.”
Wirtz is clearly not decided on whether or not to stay in the Bundesliga, having flown to the UK for talks with Liverpool last week along with parents and representatives Hans Wirtz and Karin Gross.
He has also been advised not to join Leverkusen’s title rivals by teammate Robert Andrich, who spoke to Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger last month.
“Yes, of course there are a few comments along those lines,” Andrich said when asked if he had told Wirtz to go abroad instead of Bayern.
“I hope he doesn’t leave, especially not to Bayern, because that would make them significantly stronger.
“But fundamentally, Flo is already very clear in his perception and his mind, and he also has a very good environment.
“So no matter what he ends up doing, he’ll have thought it through thoroughly. It would be best, of course, if he stayed with us.”
There is an obvious draw for the top players in Germany to make their way to Bayern, who have gained a reputation for poaching the best talents from those around them.
Leverkusen centre-back Jonathan Tah is poised to join the champions on a free transfer this summer, while Robert Lewandowski, Mario Gotze, Mats Hummels, Leon Goretzka and Dayot Upamecano are among the other high-profile examples from years gone by.
It could be telling, though, that Leverkusen have not directly sold a player to Bayern since Lucio’s move to the capital in 2004 – and that only came after a release clause in his contract was triggered.
Though it remains to be seen whether claims a cut-price deal could be offered to clubs outside of Germany – dropping the asking price from €150 million (£126.3m) to closer to €100 million (£84.2m) – are to be believed.
But there is evidently a shared desire from those within the BayArena not to lose a player of Wirtz’s elite-level ability to a direct rival.
That could aid Liverpool if they do push to sign the 22-year-old this summer, and there is every indication the Premier League champions intend to invest heavily on Wirtz if a deal can be struck.
Fan Comments