The heat is turning up on Man City’s pursuit of Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz.
The German star is the Manchester club’s top target for the summer as the 22-year-old is viewed as the perfect replacement for the departing Kevin De Bruyne.
Wirtz is Pep Guardiola’s dream signing ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, and the legendary coach is even breaking his own rules to help land the Bundesliga talent, as he has become hands-on in the deal, something the Spaniard very rarely does.
Wednesday saw Liverpool join the race for Wirtz, with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid the other clubs showing interest, which shows how highly the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder is rated within the football world.
Despite this, TalkSPORT pundit Jermaine Pennant thinks Man City should walk away from the Wirtz deal and sign a £100m Premier League star instead.
Man City told to sign Morgan Gibbs-White over Florian Wirtz
Man City do not plan on giving up in the race for Wirtz and will fight to sign the £126m star until the German makes a decision on his future.
Guardiola plans to bring in the 22-year-old, alongside another midfield star, with Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White a target for Man City.
Speaking about the England midfielder, TalkSPORT pundit Jermaine Pennant has stated that the Forest star would be a top signing for City and that it would be better than bringing Wirtz to the Etihad Stadium this summer.
“Like I said, you already know he’s proven in the Premier League, he is doing it at Nottingham Forest, and he’s creating a lot, he’s scoring.
“For them, he’s a very important player and it’s kind of a player that the City are going to be losing in Kevin De Bruyne, a player that gets on the ball, creates, passing, vision, amazing,” Pennant said.
“So, I think, for me, that would be a good signing. That would be a better signing than going getting Florian Wirtz for me.”
The good thing for Man City fans is that their club plan to bring in both players, although the £100m fee for Gibbs-White is one that the Manchester club will have no intention of paying.
How Morgan Gibbs-White compares to Florian Wirtz
It is hard to compare Gibbs-White and Wirtz as they are different profiles despite liking to operate in the number 10 role.
When it comes to talent, Wirtz is levels above the Nottingham Forest star, however, the Englishman knows the Premier League and has more physical attributes that Guardiola is looking for in his team.
| Player | Games | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
| Florian Wirtz | 44 | 16 | 15 | 3302 |
| Morgan Gibbs-White | 36 | 6 | 10 | 2969 |
When it comes to numbers, Wirtz produces almost double that of Gibbs-White, however, the German star plays in a more attacking team, while also the Bundesliga is generally considered weaker than the Premier League.
Most Man City fans would take Wirtz when it comes to the two, but it looks like they won’t have to choose, as the Manchester club hopes to have both in their squad by the time the 2025/26 campaign gets underway.
