Manchester City didn’t reject Florian Wirtz, he rejected them, and Pep Guardiola is to blame for the playmaker’s imminent move to Liverpool.
Wirtz looks set to swap Bayer Leverkusen for Liverpool after the Reds made a bid in excess of €100m for the 22-year-old, who’s agreed to the move to Anfield.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Leverkusen are “discussing” bonuses and other “details of the deal” as Liverpool look to satisfy their demands.
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Romano said on his YouTube channel: “So Liverpool are working on the Milos Kerkez deal and then for Florian Wirtz, agreement with the player done, and conversations underway with Bayer Leverkusen.
“After the first proposal, they are discussing the bonuses, they are discussing all the details of this deal, but for sure, they are working hard to get the Florian Wirtz deal done, and it won’t take too long.
“So that’s the message coming from those close to the deal. And my expectation remains for this deal to be completed for Florian Wirtz to Liverpool.”
City reportedly also had Wirtz as their top target before it was claimed earlier this month that they had withdrawn from the race ‘owing to the soaring costs of any deal’.
It was claimed Wirtz would have ‘represented the biggest in City’s history, potentially reaching as much as 300m euros inclusive of transfer fees and wages’.
Man City were supposedly ‘concerned’ at Wirtz costing an ‘over-inflated’ price, even if he is ‘acknowledged as one of the leading young talents in European football’.
But that claim has now been refuted by German outlet Bild, who claim for Wirtz ‘it was a decision between City and Liverpool’ and that ‘talks with the coaches were decisive’.
Wirtz was attracted to Liverpool because of ‘Slot’s passion’, and due to the ‘special atmosphere at Anfield’, while he left talks with Guardiola without ‘knowing whether he will fulfil his contract until 2027’, which put paid to their chances of signing him.
‘Wirtz then cancelled City (not vice versa)’, the report adds.
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Bayern Munich were also thought to be in the running for a long time but Bild claim Wirtz was never convinced as unlike City and Liverpool, who have him a ‘clear position description’, in Bavaria ‘the system question was not conclusively clarified’ amid doubts as to how he would fit into the team alongside Jamal Musiala.
Bayern Munich chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen released a strange statement on Wednesday underlining the Bavarian giants’ credentials after missing out on Wirtz.
Dreesen told TZ: “Much more has been written than spoken. FC Bayern is one of the absolute top clubs in Europe and the world. Our appeal among fans, but also among players, is enormous.
“The fact that not every player will end up with us is simply part of the package; it’s the same for other top clubs. But everyone knows: with FC Bayern, you can win everything every year, you’re involved in every competition – the upcoming Club World Cup is a good example of that.
“Just look at which clubs are represented there – and, most of all, which (clubs) aren’t. The best European clubs are competing there – including FC Bayern. Our appeal, sporting ambitions, and economic power are well known to all top players around the world.”