Bayern Munich are applying pressure in their bid to sign Florian Wirtz amid serious competition for his services.
The young German international (21) is understood to be courting interest from the Premier League, with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City a potential suitor.
Though it initially seemed that Wirtz would prioritise personal development over a big move in 2025, it seems the footballer’s mind has changed.
That’s perhaps less surprising than some may think given the technically gifted attacking midfielder has enjoyed another scintillating campaign in the Bundesliga. He’s registered 15 goals and 13 assists in 39 games (across all competitions).
Bayern face transfer tug-of-war for Florian Wirtz
Jan-Christian Dreesen may have been coy about Bayern’s interest in Wirtz. Make no mistake though: The No.10 is firmly on Bayern’s list for the summer transfer window.
The fact he’s still yet to sign a new contract, despite Xabi Alonso seemingly committing to another season with the reigning Bundesliga champions, is certainly encouraging.
Christian Falk exclusively informed CF Bayern Insider that Bayern are ‘trying to get him’ but Manchester City are considered a serious hurdle to clear.
“Now there is a fight between Leverkusen, Manchester City and Bayern Munich. Bayern are trying to get him this summer,” he said.
“The thing that is very curious – at the beginning of the year, there was talk of him signing a new contract with Leverkusen, but since then there’s been nothing. Everything is quiet and there’s yet to be an extension, so you see that there’s something going on at the moment.
“Bayern are putting pressure to get Florian Wirtz, but also Manchester City are a big rival, as Pep Guardiola wants a successor for Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan. Wirtz would be perfect for this idea.”
Both Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan’s contracts are set to expire in 2025, which will likely prompt a significant midfield refresh in the market.
That won’t be music to Christoph Freund nor Max Eberl’s ears, of course, given that City are currently unlikely to be hampered by a clear need to balance the books.
A very expensive transfer
It’ll come as no shock to anyone that we’ll have to seriously loosen the pursestrings if we want to sign Florian Wirtz.
Leverkusen, as is their right, have stated in no uncertain terms that a figure well above the €100m mark will be required to prise the midfielder out of the BayArena.
“Leverkusen made clear that either Wirtz signs a new contract where he’d have a release clause (which should be around €120m [£102.9m] for 2026),” Falk added.
“If they don’t agree this extension – they have to sell him this year. As long as he’s not signing the new extension, he’s for sale.
“Fernando Carro, Leverkusen CEO, has said he’s a €150m [£128.6m] player. This is the price tag they’ll let him go for and they’ve yet to come up with a new number since! So it could get expensive.”
Presuming that Leverkusen could secure €150m for Wirtz, it would blow the record-breaking €100m [£85.6m] figure Bayern gave Tottenham for Harry Kane completely out of the water.
| Player | Year of arrival | Transfer fee |
| Harry Kane | 2023 | €100m |
| Lucas Hernandez | 2019 | €80m |
| Matthijs de Ligt | 2022 | €77m |
| Michael Olise | 2024 | €60m |
| Joao Palhinha | 2024 | €51m |
With the club coffers far from bursting at the seams, however, a move of such epic proportions will first require us to effectively prune the squad and wage bill.
The planned departure of Thomas Muller will free up a lot of room in that regard, but Bayern have quite a hill to climb to raise sufficient funds through player sales.
