Bayer Leverkusen confirm Florian Wirtz price tag
- Bayer Leverkusen are prepared to sell Florian Wirtz - but only for huge fee
- Youngster has shone in 2023/24 Bundesliga title-winning campaign
- All of Europe's biggest clubs have been credited with transfer interest
Bayer Leverkusen have vowed not to sell Florian Wirtz for less than a monstrous figure that would make him the fourth most expensive player of all-time.
Racking up 35 goals and assists across 41 appearances in all competitions, Wirtz has been central to Leverkusen's success this season, including sealing a first-ever Bundesliga title over the weekend.
Plenty of the stars of the team are attracting interest from across Europe, with Wirtz very much the jewel in the crown. Manchester City have long held interest in the 20-year-old attacker but face competition from Liverpool and Bayern Munich. Real Madrid have been linked in recent days, while there has been ongoing speculation about Barcelona, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.
But Leverkusen have drawn a firm line in the sand over valuation.
"No one is unsellable, but Wirtz will not leave for less than €150m," chief executive Fernando Carro told Radio Marca this week.
That amount, the equivalent of £128m at the current exchange rate, would mean only Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Philippe Coutinho have ever cost more.
Speaking in December, Wirtz's father and agent suggested the immediate plan for the player is to remain with Leverkusen, where he is under contract until 2027, for at least another year.
"Currently, everything is geared towards Florian continuing to play in Leverkusen next season," he told Sky Sport Germany at the time, although emphasis on the word currently might suggest that stance was open to change depending how the rest of the campaign has panned out.
The longstanding preference for Wirtz's camp has been to stay in Germany at this stage of his career, which makes Bayern an obvious destination. However, given that Leverkusen have embarrassed the Bavarian giants this season, that could be considered a step down from a footballing perspective.
Leverkusen can offer Champions League football to Wirtz in 2024/25 and would even be a contender to go to the latter stages of the competition if they can keep together a title-winning team on the cusp of laying down an unbeaten Bundesliga season and setting a new all-time points record. He has never played at European club football's highest level, having missed Leverkusen's appearance in the 2022/23 group stage while in the final stages of recovery from an ACL injury.
READ THE LATEST TRANSFER NEWS & GOSSIP FROM AROUND THE WORLD
feed