Advantage Man City? Bayern admit defeat in Wirtz pursuit

Bayern Munich bigwig Uli Hoeness has admitted that his club’s chances of signing Florian Wirtz in the summer stand at just ’10 per cent.’

The Bayer Leverkusen wonderkid continues to enchant the elite of European football. Wirtz has taken his game to new levels under Xabi Alonso and is nothing short of unplayable on his day.

Unlike many players his age, Wirtz plays at the peak of his powers with such ruthless consistency that it is not hard to see why every big club is keeping tabs on his situation. Moreover, he puts in a lot of the hard yards despite being an attacking midfielder with silky skills, which also further enhances his sparkling reputation.

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With the summer transfer window approaching, Wirtz is once again the subject of rampant speculation. Recently, it was claimed that Man City have identified him as one of their top targets for the upcoming window, while the media in Germany believes that he is on the verge of extending his Leverkusen contract.

Bayern give up on Wirtz

Then, there is Bayern Munich, the club whose bosses seemingly can’t stop fawning over the 21-year-old. Every member of the Bayern board has openly acknowledged that it is their intention to bring Wirtz to Munich in the summer.

Honorary president Uli Hoeness recently admitted what has been known for a while: Wirtz is Bayern’s ‘dream’ target for the summer. However, dreams and reality are two different things and Bayern are realising that landing Wirtz will prove eminently difficult despite their charm offensive.

Indeed, speaking to BILD, Hoeness has now conceded that Bayern only have a ’10 per cent’ chance of signing the German international. “We want Wirtz. But [a transfer] takes three. He still has a long-term contract with Leverkusen. I see our chances at 10 per cent!”

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Bayern are unsure whether they can actually afford Wirtz. Leverkusen will demand in excess of €100 million for their magician and Bayern have struggled in recent times to free up funds via player sales.

Mathys Tel, should Tottenham exercise their purchase option, will flush around €60m in the Munich outfit’s coffers, but last summer’s spending spree and the incredibly expensive contract extensions handed out to Alphonso Davies, Jamal Musiala and potentially Joshua Kimmich have convinced club chiefs that some ‘austerity measures’ are in order for the time being.

Additionally, Leverkusen are unwilling to do business with Bayern and the relationship between the two clubs deteriorated last summer. This is making a transfer seemingly impossible and is perhaps one of the reasons why Wirtz has been asking for a release clause during the talks over his new contract.

Sky Germany previously claimed that Wirtz and his family believe that a move to Bayern would be the ideal next step for him before heading abroad later down the line. However, the chances of a transfer to Munich materialising look slim to none right now.