Liverpool are in talks with Florian Wirtz and should they strike a deal with Bayer Leverkusen, they could hand Bayern Munich major disappointment following their public transfer pursuit
Florian Wirtz.
Liverpool reportedly moving ahead in the queue to sign Florian Wirtz has stunned figures in Germany.(Image: Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Bayern Munich's hopes of landing Liverpool target Florian Wirtz are seemingly fading with the Reds pushing to sign the Bayer Leverkusen star. And the German giants losing out on the 22-year-old starlet will have been met with great disappointment, Sport BILD's Tobi Altschäffl has told the ECHO.
The Premier League champions opened talks with Leverkusen over a potentially blockbuster deal to sign the playmaker. Liverpool emerged as surprise candidates to land Wirtz last week but have seemingly nudged in front of Bayern and Manchester City - who reportedly dropped out of the pursuit last week.
Reports in Germany, as well as claims from Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer, who made a major admission on Saturday, suggest the attacking midfielder has decided to join Liverpool.
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Although the speculation in the region suggests a move will not be completed this weekend, it does tip that talks are progressing with a positive outcome for Liverpool in their pursuit of Wirtz.
At the home of the Bundesliga champions, the pain felt from missing out on their top target may not be apparent, but the looming failure to reunite the national team's poster boys at club level is apparent after their very public pursuit.
"In Germany, we were expecting him to go to Bayern because they were so confident, Uli Hoeness was never pushing a player in public, who is not a Bayern Munich player, like he did with Wirtz," Altschäffl told the ECHO.
"Normally, club officials don’t talk about players from him other teams but he said, ‘we have to get him, he’s the best…’ so with every opportunity he had, he said, ‘we have to get Wirtz’.
"Even when there was the championship celebration last weekend, he gave an interview, he didn’t say it but he was sure he would come."
Ryan Gravenberch was lambasted as a failure at Bayern following his move from Ajax as a talented youngster.
He struggled during his debut campaign at Liverpool, but under Arne Slot, the business to take him out of the Bundesliga giants to the Premier League has proved to be a masterstroke.
Proven by his recent accolade as Premier League Young Player of the Year. The public opinion in Munich was surprise that Liverpool would target a player like Gravenberch, who had failed to make the grade at a global powerhouse such as Bayern.
But such uncertainty doesn't surround a prospective move to England's top-flight for Wirtz, with the BILD senior writer laying down the gauntlet that the Germany international will be one of the top three players in the division.
He added: "When there was news that he would go to Liverpool it was like, ‘okay, that’s a shock for Bayern Munich’ but if you compare him to Ryan Gravenberch, in Germany it was like, ‘how can he go to Liverpool because he’s not good enough at all for Bayern Munich and won’t make it there’, and he’s been outstanding (for Liverpool) so for Wirtz it’s different expectation.
"What he did for Leverkusen, at Liverpool, he will be one of the top three players in the Premier League.
"There has to be a reason why Pep [Guardiola] wanted him as a successor for De Bruyne, why Arne Slot is so into Wirtz and why Bayern want him. We think he can do it at any place and any club."
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Thomas Muller ended his long-running association at the Allianz Arena, in light of Bayern returning to the summit after Wirtz and Liverpool icon Xabi Alonso usurped them to become Bundesliga champions.
With Vincent Kompany at the helm, the Belgian was orchestrating a rebuild in Munich with old figures such as Manuel Neuer coming to the end of their time at the record-holders.
Jamal Musiala, Wirtz's international teammate, is viewed as the player to guide them into the new era and alongside the 22-year-old.
Reports in Germany recently suggested that a verbal agreement was already in place to bring the Leverkusen star across the Bundesliga to Munich, which were rubbished.
Altschäffl revealed that the level of disappointment at the newly-crowned Bundesliga champions will be off the charts.
"If there is a scale from one to 10, their disappointment would be 15," he continued.
"For them, he was their key player, they’re building their new team, a new generation after Neuer, Muller and those players, there’s Musiala but for the second key player would’ve been Florian Wirtz, they would’ve been ready to spend as much money as they never did in their history."