Liverpool’s £116million move for Florian Wirtz was one of the statement signings of the summer transfer window, as the Reds saw off rivals such as Bayern Munich and Manchester City to land the German playmaker.
The move was briefly a British transfer record and although the 22-year-old - who was ranked by FourFourTwo at No.1 in a list of the game’s best attacking midfielders - is yet to open his Liverpool goalscoring account, the club will be confident he will be a key player for years to come.
But according to Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro, the summer transfer saga could have played out very differently.
Why Wirtz did not end up at Real Madrid
Reports of Real Madrid’s interest in Wirtz were exasperated by Xabi Alonso’s move to the Bernabeu following the Spanish manager’s brilliant three-year spell at Leverkusen which saw him lead the side to their first Bundesliga title in club history following an unbeaten 2023/24 league campaign.
Wirtz had flourished under Alonso’s management and given Madrid’s interest in signing him, the move would have no doubt been a tempting option for Wirtz, but Carro has explained why this did not happen as he discussed the summer transfer saga.
“The Wirtz family and Florian knew that extending their contracts was our top priority,” the Leverkusen chief told Sport1. “We were very cautious with salaries during the summer transfers.
“But we would have been prepared to make an exception for Florian, definitely in a range that Bayer Leverkusen has never seen before. In the end, Florian decided for himself what he wanted to do. His parents are his advisors, and I think it's good that they fully respect Florian's wishes.
“He's someone who wants to win the Champions League. We thought that with this team we would have been able to go further than we did. He saw that we had won the German championship, but that winning the Champions League with Bayer Leverkusen might be more difficult.
“He would certainly have gone to Madrid if Xabi had made the offer. But Xabi has less say at Madrid than he does with us.
“One of Xabi Alonso's great strengths was his ability to work with our scouting department to define who needed to be in our team.
In FourFourTwo’s view, it may be slightly galling to hear that the Reds were Wirtz’s second choice, but Carro’s words should be taken with a pinch of salt, given his interests lie with placating his own fans and ensuring that he brought in as a big a fee as possible for the club’s star player.
Wirtz himself - who is valued at €130million by Transfermarkt - will now look to get some momentum going at Liverpool. He is yet to register a goal involvment in his ten Premier League appearances so far, but did clock up two assists in his last Champions League game, when the Reds saw off Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1.
He will, however, get that Alonso reunion this week, when Real Madrid visit Anfield in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
