Exclusive: Man City jump ahead of Liverpool for £100m-rated complete midfielder who Spanish giants covet | OneFootball

Man City could be set to complete a stunning £100m summer deal for Bayer Leverkusen’s brilliant midfielder, Florian Wirtz, no doubt disappointing Liverpool and Real Madrid in the process.

It had already been reported that the Reds and Chelsea had held talks over the transfer of the player, and Real Madrid are apparently prepared to go to £150m to make the deal happen.

Man City favourites to land Florian Wirtz – sources

However, CaughtOffside sources with a close understanding of the player’s preference have now advanced that City are favourites to land the 21-year-old who the official Bundesliga website describe as ‘the complete midfielder.’

Wirtz was a major reason why Leverkusen came within one match of completing an unprecedented unbeaten treble in the 2023/24 campaign, but with manager, Xabi Alonso, leaving at the end of the current season (Daily Mail), the break up of his team will be an unfortunate but not wholly unexpected outcome.

Florian Wirtz of Germany celebrates the team’s fourth goal against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images

Pep Guardiola will soon be officially announced as staying at Man City for a further season at least, with the option of one more, and the club will hope that the lure of playing under arguably the best manager of his generation will tempt Wirtz and, as a result, allow the Premier League champions to push through a spectacular £100m deal next summer.

Sources have also noted that Bayern Munich are trying their hardest to convince the player’s representatives that he should stay in the Bundesliga, where he is considered one of the German top-flight’s best players.

Real Madrid won’t take any challenge to their plan of integrating Wirtz lightly, particularly if Alonso himself pitches back up at the Santiago Bernabeu, to replace Carlo Ancelotti.

At present, sources believe that Chelsea and Liverpool are the outsiders in the race, though anything can, and often does, change where football transfers are concerned.

Any transfer deal is likely to just come down to player preference when all is said and done.