Until recently a German wonderkid, Florian Wirtz (21) is now one of the best players in modern football. His name is increasingly being associated not with potential, but with being a leading player of the new generation. Alongside Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior, Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Jamal Musiala, and a few others (especially slightly older stars like Mbappé, Haaland, or Foden), the creative midfielder from Bayer Leverkusen is considered one of the greatest treasures of the modern football universe. It’s no surprise, then, that his name has been appearing in global media almost daily for months. Leverkusen will find it incredibly difficult to keep him after this season, and the bidding war has already begun: where will he go, when will he leave, and what will be the decisive factor in his choice?Bayern off to building a super-teamAccording to Bild’s insider Christian Falk, seven top clubs are currently vying for Wirtz, but only four have a realistic chance of signing him. He names Bayern, Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Arsenal as those four clubs and emphasized that Bayern‘s unofficial boss and the most important figure on Bayern Munich’s Supervisory Board, Uli Hoeneß is the one who must approve any transfer over 40 million euros.“We can spend 100 million on a player like Harry Kane once every few years. And maybe again on a top German footballer. Okay, everyone knows I adore Wirtz and would love to bring him here” said Hoeneß recently.That statement seemed to trigger Bayern’s media campaign for the brilliant midfielder. Since then, not a week has gone by without someone from the club — even players — publicly expressing a desire to see Wirtz in Munich. According to Falk, the Bavarians are the most active in pursuing Wirtz and Hoeneß is personally leading the ‘Wirtz operation.’ He maintains contact with the player’s family and has already invited them to his retreat by Lake Tegernsee in Misbach. To recall, Bayern had shown Wirtz their youth campus back in 2019, but he chose Leverkusen at that time. When Wirtz suffered a ligament injury two years ago, Bayern again reached out to him, offering support during his recovery. From that period comes a photo of Wirtz training individually at home, wearing a Bayern jersey. Bild also reports that the fee is not the only problem for any clubs – it‘s also the vision they must ‘sell‘ to the forward, and it seems that Jamal Musiala will play a big role in this. He has become close friends with Wirtz. They complement each other well on the field for Germany and hang out privately. Of course, Bayern will only be able to count on Musiala in this race if he extends his contract, which expires in 2026 (negotiations have begun already).Top U2⃣3⃣ creative midfielders*🥇 #JudeBellingham 🏴🥈 #FlorianWirtz 🇩🇪🥉 #ColePalmer 🏴 & #JamalMusiala 🇩🇪 5⃣ #JoaoNeves 🇵🇹* Last year performancesMore exclusive ⚽️ stats👉https://t.co/Qfv9Y05QD5 pic.twitter.com/FdYs7G70ZC— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) September 27, 2024 Currently, Bayern leads the race for Leverkusen’s “number 10,” but Bild writes that Real Madrid and Manchester City, above all, won’t give up easily. Madrid has been tracking Wirtz for two years, seeing him as an ideal partner for Jude Bellingham, and they believe their chances will significantly improve if Xabi Alonso, as expected, takes over the Royal club. City is logically involved because they need a replacement for Kevin De Bruyne, who is already 33 years old and whose contract expires in 10 months. Wirtz is the type of player Pep Guardiola loves — a top technician, tactically astute, defensively responsible, and not prone to unnecessary self-promotion. The only question is whether Pep will extend his contract with City, given the financial fair play allegations looming over the English champions.Boniface admits he doesn’t fancy the Premier LeagueAs for Arsenal, Mikel Arteta is clear:”If we want to be the best team in the world, we have to bring in the best players, that much is obvious,” the Spaniard said when asked about Wirtz’s chances of joining the Gunners. However, it seems that the London club currently has the weakest position among the four. Florian Wirtz has scored six goals in his first nine matches this season. In the Bundesliga, he has already made 114 appearances, scored 29 goals, and provided 35 assists. He has also played 25 times for Germany. And all of this at just 21 years old. At this age, the only player more expensive than him (130 million) is Jude Bellingham (180 million).BUNDESLIGA – MATCHDAY 6Friday Augsburg – M’ gladbach (1-0)/Schlotterbeck 38, Claude – Maurice 65 – Kleindeienst 72/Saturday 16.30: (1.10) Leverkusen (11.0) Holstein Kiel (18.0)16.30: (3.20) Bochum (3.60) Wolfsburg (2.30)16.30: (3.45) Union Berlin (3.50) Dortmund (2.20)16.30: (2.70) Werder (3.35) Freiburg (2.60)19.30: (2.50) St.Pauli (3.45) Mainz (2.95)Sunday 16.30: (4.90) Heidenheim (3.60) RB Leipzig (1.75)18.30: (5.90) Eintr.Frankfurt (4.20) Bayern (1.55)20.30: (1.32) Stuttgart (5.70) Hoffenheim (8.50)***odds are subject to change***
