Fabrizio Romano has shared his latest information on Liverpool-linked midfielder Florian Wirtz.
The Reds are among several top clubs from around Europe who are believed to be tracking the 20-year-old, for whom Bayer Leverkusen are set to demand at least €100m (£87.2m), according to TEAMtalk.
Manchester City are also believed to be eyeing a possible move for the youngster (90min), but the Italian transfer reporter expects the Germany international’s plethora of suitors to be disappointed in the short-term.
In his latest Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside, Romano wrote: “Contrary to other reports, I’m told there’s still no asking price and nothing decided on Wirtz. He’s very focused on Leverkusen, they are flying now and nothing is happening.
“I don’t see them selling Florian in January, he’s a key player for Xabi Alonso, so my expectation is for Wirtz to stay at the club in January.”
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Wirtz has been one of the main inspirations behind Leverkusen’s rise to the summit of the Bundesliga, with six goals and nine assists in 16 games across all competitions already this season (Transfermarkt).
While predominantly featuring in the number 10 role, he’s also capable of playing slightly deeper, as well as anywhere across the forward line (Transfermarkt), so he’d present Jurgen Klopp with plenty of scope in terms of how best to integrate him within Liverpool’s line-up.
In a similar vein to Dominik Szoboszlai, the 20-year-old particularly excels in terms of his dribbling ability, averaging 3.61 successful take-ons per 90 minutes over the past year, placing him among the top 3% of positional peers in Europe’s five main leagues (FBref).
There’s a case to be made for the Reds having a greater need to strengthen in other areas of the squad in January, but such is Wirtz’s promise that he can’t be totally ignored as a transfer target in 2024.
It does seem as if the Leverkusen gem will stay put until next summer at least, but we can probably expect to hear his name mentioned heavily in Liverpool transfer dispatches in the meantime, especially if he can continue playing a key role in Xabi Alonso’s side remaining top of the Bundesliga.
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