Florian Wirtz completed a sensational £116m move to Liverpool this summer as the Reds beat off competition from Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and it has now been confirmed why the Reds were successful
Florian Wirtz
Florian Wirtz was of interest to Real Madrid in the summer
(Image: Getty Images)
Real Madrid were so busy attempting to sign other players this summer that they left the door open to Liverpool to sign Florian Wirtz, according to reports. The Reds completed a stunning £116m move for the former Bayer Leverkusen star earlier this summer.
The move was all the more remarkable given that the German international was also of interest to a number of European giants. Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich were all apparently eyeing him.
But the Spanish side did not follow that interest up with a tangible move due to being too busy elsewhere.
According to The Times, Real were attempting to seal a deal for Wirtz’ former manager Xabi Alonso which may have strengthened their hand.
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Ultimately, they had different priorities when it came to incoming players though. Real had already agreed a pre-contract with Trent Alexander-Arnold but they were in the thick of negotiations with Liverpool to sign him early, having eventually struck a £8.4m deal.
The Spanish giants also invested heavily elsewhere as Dean Huijsen, Alvaro Carreras and France Mastantuono all completed big-money moves to the Santiago Bernabeu.
In completing his move to Liverpool, Wirtz revealed that now Real boss Alonso had encouraged him to switch to Anfield.
He said: “It was Jeremie (Frimpong) who trained a bit my English skills because he was sitting next to me in the changing room. When I came from school, I couldn’t speak English.
“(My English comes) from the changing room because even Xabi (Alonso), Xabi was speaking English.
Florian Wirtz
Florian Wirtz completed a £116m move to Liverpool this summer
“He was really happy that I am coming here. Because he was telling me he came also at 22 to Liverpool.”
It is also suggested by The Times that the project on offer under Arne Slot was Anfield was something that Wirtz found it tough to turn down.
Meanwhile, Bayern chiefs have regularly spoken out and claimed that they simply could not match the financial package on offer from Liverpool.
Speaking earlier this week, Uli Hoenesss said: “We’re very satisfied at FC Bayern. We are the real winners of the summer transfer window.
“We have a strong team and didn’t need to strengthen it much. Of course, we would have liked to have Florian Wirtz, but we’d never have bought him for €150 million (£130 million).”
He then added: “Other clubs are playing Monopoly. Newcastle paid big for Nick Woltemade when we were interested. That’s not how Bayern work – we won’t be dragged into that kind of game.”
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