Florian Wirtz
Florian Wirtz
name has dominated the Liverpool transfer rumour mill for the last couple of weeks, and there's no sign of that changing anytime soon. The Bayer Leverkusen star is a target for the Reds as the summer window officially opens.
The ECHO reported on Friday that Liverpool had submitted a £109million bid to sign Wirtz, which is thought to be their second offer to the Bundesliga outfit. Talks remain ongoing between the two clubs over a deal to bring Wirtz to Anfield, who could this summer.
Wirtz is currently with the Germany national team as they prepare for their Nations League semi-final against Portugal on Wednesday. There have been various reports suggesting that the player is waiting to be given the green light to complete a medical ahead of a potential transfer to Liverpool, having signalled his desire to move to Merseyside.
It's not just Liverpool who have held an interest in signing Wirtz this summer, but also Bayern Munich.
The Bundesliga giants were seemingly at the front of the queue to sign Wirtz before the playmaker expressed a desire to move to Anfield instead.
Until Wirtz is officially confirmed as a Liverpool player, it would not be unreasonable to think that Bayern may still have some hope that they can sign the 22-year-old this summer.
What may give them some encouragement is that Wirtz will currently be alongside some members of the Bayern squad while he is with the Germany national team.
Bayern have Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry and Aleksandar Pavlovic in the Germany squad, plus new signing Jonathan Tah, who has just arrived on a free transfer from Leverkusen.
Whether any of those players will try to convince Wirtz to move to Bayern rather than Liverpool is a mystery.
It's not unreasonable to assume that conversations about the interest from the Reds may be happening in one way or another, though.
Only time will tell if Liverpool can agree a deal to bring Wirtz to Anfield as one of the statement signings in the Premier League this summer.
If the Reds can also beat Bayern to signing one of the brightest prospects from the Bundesliga, too, that would be another statement from the reigning Premier League champions.