Florian Wirtz update gives Liverpool ‘high hopes'

Liverpool appear to have a genuine chance of signing Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz. The latest reports are very promising.

Liverpool weren’t really linked with signing Florian Wirtz earlier this year. The playmaker appeared destined for Bayern Munich, with Manchester City hoping to steal him with a mega-offer.

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But things have changed.

Liverpool are now firmly in the mix, according to several reports, while Manchester City are out of this race. That’s according to the BBC, among others.

City now claim that Wirtz is too expensive. It’s a very similar line to the one they made in 2017 when Virgil van Dijk turned them down.

He’s not going there, in other words, and appears destined for one of two clubs. And that makes a line out of Germany look incredibly interesting.

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Liverpool’s high hopes

Kicker reports that Liverpool have put in an offer for Wirtz, along with Bayern Munich. They also make it clear that Wirtz and his parents (who are also his agents) have discussed terms with both clubs and Man City.

But there’s a line in that report that ‘one of the two English clubs’ have ‘high hopes’ and are in a ‘very good position’. In light of City pulling out on Monday, it suggests that club is Liverpool.

And that’s quite the turnaround here. Liverpool have gone from not even in the race to feeling good about their chances in the space of a few weeks.

So where do things go from here?

It’s arguable that Bayern simply can’t afford Wirtz this summer. Their best chance of landing him from Leverkusen is waiting another year so he only has one season remaining on his contract.

Leverkusen would, quite obviously, much prefer to sell this summer and get the ‘full’ fee. They’d also prefer not to sell to Bayern.

It makes Liverpool Leverkusen’s preferred negotiating partner by some distance. The problem is that Wirtz can simply wait out a move if he wants - ultimately, this entire saga hinges on the player and his preferred destination.

But does he want to wait a year? That’s losing out on a lot of money, after all, as well as a competitive season. Leverkusen will likely go through a transitional season with a lot of change.

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So maybe the move to Liverpool can appeal most to Wirtz. We’ll just have to wait and see (and cross our fingers).