Florian Wirtz turned down a more lucrative contract offer from Bayern Munich to join Liverpool, according to German media.
It appears to be only a matter of time before the biggest transfer of the summer is completed, with all parties expecting a final agreement in the next few days.
Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen have been locked in positive talks for some time now, with the Bundesliga side intent on having their €150 million asking price matched.
The Reds have had two offers, worth €100m and €130m, respectively, rejected by Leverkusen, but this is not expected to have a negative influence on the discussions.
Indeed, Wirtz is making no secret of his desire to head to Anfield, and Leverkusen are not trying to stand in his way; they just want to get what they feel is a fair price for one of the biggest talents in world football. After all, they are happy that Wirtz chose Liverpool over rivals Bayern.
Bayern seething over Wirtz snub
According to BILD journalist Christian Falk, the Munich outfit were left seething when Wirtz informed them of his desire to make the move to England. In fact, the Bayern insider claims that the 22-year-old actually rejected a more lucrative deal to link up with Liverpool.
“It was a hard punch for the Bayern bosses to miss out on Florian Wirtz,” Falk explained. “…It’s the first time that a German player decided against Bayern. They were interested, and I think this is really, really hard for Bayern Munich.
“It’s disappointing to hear that it wasn’t even a question of money; it’s said that Wirtz will earn €20m-22m per annum at Liverpool. Bayern offered more – they would have paid about €24m – so this is doubly hard for FC Bayern to accept.”
A decisive factor in Wirtz’s decision was reportedly a conversation he had with Liverpool boss Arne Slot, who made a convincing pitch to the player and outlined exactly how he plans to use him in his side.
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