Florian Wirtz looks like he’ll become the centre of a hugely expensive transfer battle in the summer, with some of Europe’s big-hitters wanting to sign the Bayer Leverkusen man, including Man City.
Manchester City are tasked with replacing Kevin De Bruyne this summer, after he announced he’ll be leaving Man City this summer when his contract expires.
The 33-year-old will no doubt prove tough to replace, if not impossible to replace with the 33-year-old having been a one-of-a-kind player for Pep Guardiola and Man City over the years.
But one name who Pep seems to think could replace De Bruyne is Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz.
Man City have been making checks on Wirtz throughout the season, but City aren’t alone: Real Madrid and Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich are also interested in the German international, who’s reportedly valued at a whopping €150million (£130million).
Manchester City News were recently told by transfer expert Graeme Bailey that Wirtz is open to joining Man City this summer and that Pep is ready to break the bank to sign the 21-year-old.
But Kompany and Bayern Munich may have other plans.
Bayern Munich will go into debt to sign Man City target Florian Wirtz
In the last week or so reports linking Bayern Munich with a summer move for Wirtz have really picked up. He’s rapidly become a key summer target for Kompany’s side who are planning major reductions to their wage bill this summer, according to BILD, with Kompany eyeing a 20% reduction.
That, in turn, would reportedly free up about €100million to be used on transfers. But BILD also add that even this wouldn’t be enough for Bayern Munich to go out and buy Wirtz, along with whoever else they want to recruit in the summer, and so Bayern are willing to take out a huge loan to bring Wirtz to the club.
Bayern Munich are ready to indebt themselves in a bid to sign Wirtz this summer which shows just how highly-rated Wirtz is, and how much Kompany wants to beat Man City to the signing.
Latest on Bayer Leverkusen new contract for Florian Wirtz
Despite all the noise about who might sign Wirtz this summer, Bayer Leverkusen are doing their best to keep him at the club for a little while longer.
He’s currently under contract until the summer of 2027 but Leverkusen are working on a new deal for Wirtz, with several reports that they’ve tabled him a new contract offer which would keep him at the club until 2028.
The new deal also includes a pay rise and a release clause too, thought to be worth €125million (£109million), that would come into effect after the 2025/26 season.
So who signs Wirtz, if anyone, seems to lie entirely with Wirtz, as him not signing a new deal would surely tempt Leverkusen to cash in while his stock is high, and prompt either Man City, Real Madrid, or Bayern Munich to make their move.
