Liverpool may consider their hopes of beating FC Bayern to Florian Wirtz a little slim.
Still, they can take comfort from the fact that they are considered ahead of domestic rivals Manchester City.
That’s despite Pep Guardiola having made personal overtures to Wirtz ahead of the summer window.
Liverpool are a dark horse in Florian Wirtz race
It’s probably best to categorise Liverpool’s chances of winning the race for the German international as unlikely at best.
Indeed, despite evident interest from the Premier League in Florian Wirtz, Christian Falk now reports that Bayern Munich are ‘optimistic’ of completing the signing.
“We have already reported that Manchester City have made an offer for the German,” the head of football at BILD exclusively informed CaughtOffside.
“Apparently, however, there has also been a meeting with Liverpool FC. As things stand, Liverpool are further ahead than Man City in the poker.
“But, the truth is: FC Bayern are still optimistic that they will get their dream player. Either this summer or in 2026, as his contract runs until 2027.”
How much will it cost to sign Wirtz?
Bayern are understood to be preparing an opening bid in the region of €100m [£84.6m].
However, it remains to be seen whether this will touch the sides for Bayer Leverkusen.
Given the scale of interest, the former Bundesliga champions are well within their rights to get a fee closer to their preferred asking price of €150m [£126.3m].
| Liverpool’s record signings | Man City’s record signings |
| Virgil van Dijk (£75m) | Jack Grealish (£100m) |
| Alisson Becker (£65m) | Josko Gvardiol (£77.6m) |
| Darwin Nunez (£64m up front) | Rodri (£62.8m) |
Man City are in more desperate need
To be completely fair to Manchester City, there is a clearer need for a player of Florian Wirtz’s qualities.
Kevin De Bruyne, as things currently stand, is set to leave the Etihad Stadium once his contract expires this coming June. It’s an exit that will leave a huge gap in need of filling in the Sky Blues’ lineup.
Liverpool, by comparison, have a well-balanced and young starting midfield trio in Alexis Mac Allister (26), Dominik Szoboszlai (24) and Ryan Gravenberch (22).
All this is academic, of course, whilst Bayern continue to maintain the strongest foothold in the race to sign Wirtz this summer.
Well if I was Bayer Leverkusen…I would think myself STUPID to sell this once in a lifetime/generational player to my fiercest opponent ” Bayern Munich”…from a tactical stance it makes no sense at all…Germans pride themselves on being PRAGMATIC…well if I am the owner at Leverkusen…I am saying sell him to Liverpool -do not make Bayern Munich even stronger…do we as a club really want to shoot ourselves in the foot for next season – it makes no sense ie. IS NOT PRAGMATIC!!!! YNWA,
The 25-year-old was absent from Liverpool’s final home match of the season against Crystal Palace, and he did not travel to face his former club, Brighton, on Monday.
While the Reds’ campaign winds down with little left to play for, Slot’s move signals a forward-thinking approach as he begins to shape the squad in his vision.