Manchester City are pushing to beat Bayern Munich in the race to sign Bayer Leverkusen attacker Florian Wirtz after face-to-face talks with his parents, talkSPORT understands.
Members of Wirtz’s family met club officials in Manchester on Tuesday and City are ready to pay in excess of £100million for the German international.
Leverkusen would prefer to sell their star player to a non-Bundesliga rival, boosting City’s hopes of landing their top summer target.
Pep Guardiola sees Wirtz as the perfect replacement for the departing Kevin De Bruyne.
City are also interested in Nottingham Forest captain Morgan Gibbs-White and AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders.
Wirtz, though, is the reigning Bundesliga Player of the Year, having starred in Leverkusen’s first-ever title win last season.
The 22-year-old racked up a massive 18 goals and 19 assists in all competitions as Leverkusen went unbeaten domestically, also claiming their second DFB Pokal.
Sadly for them, 2024/25 has ended trophyless, and manager Xabi Alonso has since announced his departure.
That’s led to a relentless pursuit of Wirtz from Bayern, who beat them to the league title under Vincent Kompany.
Numerous members of Bayern’s management have talked up the player, ranging from CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen, to president Herbert Hainer and honorary president Uli Hoeness.
In fact, former CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge called Wirtz ‘Germany’s best player’ a comment Lothar Matthaus labelled ‘disrespectful’ to Bayern star Jamal Musiala.
All of that has irritated Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro, who said of Bayern’s perceived tapping up: “It’s really a show. It’s none of my business.
“They talk so much, it’s actually not appropriate.”
Such annoyance may well play into City’s hands, as Leverkusen are keen not to sell the player to a German rival.
City also have a massive hole to fill in their squad after deciding not to renew De Bruyne’s contract.
Undoubtedly one of the Premier League’s greatest-ever midfielders, the Belgian will be a free agent and is on the lookout for a new team.
Currently linked with Aston Villa and Napoli, the 33-year-old recently admitted he was shocked to learn of his departure, despite talking up a move to Saudi Arabia last summer.
“There was a little bit of shock,” he said after it was announced he’d be leaving the Etihad.
“I didn’t have any offer from them through the whole year and the club made a decision.
“Obviously, I was a bit surprised but I have to accept it.
“Honestly, I still think I can perform at this level like I’m showing, but I understand that clubs have to make decisions.”
City have had one of their worst seasons under Pep Guardiola, and could still end the season with just the Community Shield should they lose the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace.
In a top four battle throughout the campaign and well off the pace of champions Liverpool, a rebuild has already started at the Etihad.
In January the club spent a whopping £180million, almost as much as the other 19 Premier League teams combined.
Omar Marmoush, Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov all arrived, while stalwart and captain Kyle Walker headed out on loan to AC Milan.
