CEO adamant that Liverpool star would have joined Real Madrid

One Liverpool star could have easily been lining up for Real Madrid on Tuesday. That's according to the man who sold him to the Reds.

Liverpool and Real Madrid battle in the transfer market constantly. They largely chase the same targets, though the Reds typically have them on their radar slightly before Los Blancos get involved.

Then that player's reputation skyrockets, Real Madrid decide he's be a good addition, and the player invariably picks them. That exact situation has played out with a sizeable portion of the Spaniards' squad.

Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo Goes, Endrick, Kylian Mbappe, Dean Huijsen. And Trent Alexander-Arnold, of course.

But there was one player this year who ended up at Liverpool despite interest from Real Madrid. Florian Wirtz.

Florian Wirtz and Real Madrid

Real Madrid were certainly linked with Wirtz for some time. The playmaker is considered to be one of the most talented players around, after all, and every major club was interested in him.

But the timing was off, really. Xabi Alonso moving there as head coach gave Real Madrid a fairly simple way of getting him but they prioritised defenders.

Plus the growth of Arda Güler eliminated any real need to sign a new attacking midfielder. Still, Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro is adamant that Wirtz would have chosen to go to Madrid if they'd made an offer.

“He would definitely have gone to Madrid if Xabi had made the offer," said Carro, per Sport1. "But Xabi has less say at Madrid than he does with us.

“One of Alonso’s greatest strengths was his ability to work with our scouting department to define who needed to be in our team. Florentino Pérez decides the transfers, not Xabi Alonso.”

Maybe it's true? Maybe it's not. Regardless, Liverpool were the ones who were willing to go all-in on Wirtz in the correct way, paying a then-record amount to sign him.

But more than that, the Reds were able to convince Wirtz that he was best-served playing at Anfield. That meant they saw off lucrative offers from Bayern Munich and Manchester City to get the star.

Perhaps they'd have also seen off the Real Madrid offer? They have a horrendous record in doing that previously, admittedly, but then few thought they stood a chance against the other two, either.

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