A new-look Manchester City is beginning to form under Pep Guardiola.
Omar Marmoush has shown flashes of becoming a talismanic figure at the Etihad Stadium following his £59m move from Eintracht Frankfurt in January – a window where Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis also joined, swiftly followed by Nico Gonzalez.
Established stars such as Jack Grealish are believed to be up for sale at Manchester City too – along with Ederson – so the Citizens could look very different in the 2025/26 campaign.
A new era needs statement signings to truly generate excitement within the fanbase – and Florian Wirtz could be that headline arrival after a teasing revelation by Rob Dawson.
Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen could have held a meeting about Florian Wirtz
Speaking on The Football Reporters podcast, the ESPN journalist hinted that Manchester City may have spoken to Bayer Leverkusen about the Germany international at a transfer marketplace event.
Dawson said: “Well, I mean, it’s quite an interesting idea, really. Essentially it’s a marketplace. It’s getting clubs from all over the world in the same room as agencies from all over the world, and all they’re doing is talking about transfers. The actual setup of the room is quite interesting… like speed dating.
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“That’s essentially what it is. You sign up for an app, you can approach different clubs and different agencies for meetings. Those meetings last about, well, 15 minutes.
“You sit in a big room, there’s a huge clock above your head counting down from 15 minutes to zero. When it gets to one minute to go, there’s a big bell that rings three times. That means that you get up and you shake hands and you go your separate ways and onto the next meeting, onto the next transfer.
“Essentially, it’s just about sharing information. I mentioned there that it’s the time of year where clubs are really starting to get their recruitment operations into gear ahead of the summer window and clubs are really just trying to get in front of other clubs, in front of other agents to understand which players may be available, which areas of squads different clubs are looking to strengthen.
“There were lots of conversations that were happening. Not necessarily the massive deals, but Man City are still in the same room as Bayer Leverkusen, and obviously they’ve been heavily linked with Florian Wirtz. I mean, while they’re not thrashing out the intricacies of that deal, there are conversations that are happening around a multitude of players.”
Photo by Grzegorz Wajda/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Photo by Grzegorz Wajda/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Wirtz is valued at £125m by Bayer Leverkusen – an understandably lofty sum when you consider the German has 15 goals and 13 assists in 39 appearances so far this season.
Manchester City think Florian Wirtz could replace Kevin De Bruyne
Speaking of eras ending, Kevin De Bruyne sees his contract expire this summer, and after a pretty underwhelming season, the Belgian appears to be leaving for good.
This goal needs to be spoken about more. 😮💨✨#B04SCF | #Bayer04 #Werkself #Wirtz pic.twitter.com/KKi9yVn7cp
— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) October 31, 2023
The Manchester City No.17 has failed to match his usually outstanding levels this term, scoring just four goals and assisting a further seven in 30 appearances.
As a result, Manchester City have asked Wirtz if he wants to replace De Bruyne – allegedly – as Hugo Viana looks to find an heir to the Belgium international this summer.