Florian Wirtz is expected to seal a £126m move to Liverpool in the summer transfer window after he decided against joining Bayern Munich, who held a 'secret' meeting
21:30, 29 May 2025
Florian Wirtz of Bayer Leverkusen
Florian Wirtz's Liverpool move has taken a fresh twist(Image: Pau Barrena/Getty Images)
Details have surfaced regarding Bayern Munich's final 'secret' attempt to sign Florian Wirtz, which allegedly took place during the club's Bundesliga title parade.
The midfielder is now at the centre of discussions between Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen for a record-breaking £126m transfer.
Liverpool initially held back, waiting for the player to decide his future. There was a strong initial belief that Wirtz would choose to stay in Germany, either with Leverkusen or Bayern, who at one point thought they had secured the German Footballers' Union player of the season.
However, Munich-based publication Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) reports that optimism in Munich turned into surprise when evidence emerged of Wirtz's family flying to England earlier this month.
Bayern had been under the impression that the family, particularly his father and agent Hans, had previously indicated that his son was set on moving to Munich.
Vincent Kompany
Vincent Kompany secretly met with Florian Wirtz, according to reports(Image: Getty Images)
As a result, it's reported that Bayern arranged one more meeting to try and persuade Wirtz that their project was superior to Liverpool's, reports the Liverpool Echo.
On Sunday, May 18, while Bayern were celebrating their latest Bundesliga, it's said that manager Vincent Kompany, sporting directors Max Eberl and Christoph Freund, supervisory board members Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeneß, and CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen, all met at a hotel.
The German media's attention was centred on that event, hence they didn't cover what was transpiring here.
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It's reported that Wirtz was chauffeured by limousine to the venue's underground car park, where their face-to-face discussions took place in a hired suite.
SZ alleges that he spent an hour with Kompany in one room, understanding how the coach would utilise him tactically, before meeting the Bayern bigwigs who tried to present their strongest case for him to sign.
However, this proved fruitless as it's reported that Wirtz left for his current holiday, pondered over the proposal for five days and then 'politely declined' it. He personally phoned Kompany while his father spoke to Eberl and Hoeness.
This is supposedly the 'basis' for what appears to have set Wirtz on a course towards Liverpool. It's also hinted that while Kompany gave his presentation, the manager came away with 'serious doubts', having sensed that Wirtz favoured Arne Slot's ideas more.
Rather than competing with Jamal Musiala at the Allianz Arena, he seems poised to become the sole No. 10 in the Reds' squad.
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Lastly, SZ states that Bayern hold no resentment towards Kompany or any of their top brass for failing to secure Wirtz - they did their best, and it wasn't sufficient.