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Liverpool are on the verge of completing a club-record deal for Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz after overtaking Bayern Munich in the race for the German midfielder.

The Bundesliga champions, once considered front-runners for Wirtz, have withdrawn from negotiations following a series of strategic missteps, leaving the path clear for Arne Slot’s Premier League champions to secure one of Europe’s most coveted talents.

It also breaks a cycle of the best German Bundesliga talents going to Bayern Munich almost by default – a pattern that has been commonplace in the past decade.

Liverpool submitted their first official bid for Wirtz on Monday, offering a package exceeding €100 million (£84 million) with performance-based add-ons, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The 22-year-old is said to have already informed Leverkusen of his desire to join Liverpool.

The news comes as a slight embarrassment to Bayern Munich, who were seen as major favourites for his signature before Liverpool became involved.

The club’s hierarchy spoke glowingly about the player in the media in the months before this summer, almost as if it were formality he would make the move to Bavaria.

It has all culminated in the broader public now acutely aware that the German giants lost out to Liverpool in quite a dramatic way, with the rumours circling that Wirtz and his family were not happy with the media campaign driven by Bayern.

And it seems that the club’s hierarchy is still a bit bitter about the result.

As quoted by Munich-based newspaper Tz, Dreesen still maintains that FC Bayern is capable of attracting Europe’s elite:

“FC Bayern is one of the absolute top clubs in Europe and the world; our appeal among the fans, but also among the players, is enormous.”

“It’s simply part of our culture that not everyone ends up with us.

It’s the same for other top clubs – and it doesn’t change the fact that everyone knows; with FC Bayern, you can win everything every year, you’re involved in every competition – the upcoming Club World Cup is a good example of this.”

The expanded 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will feature 32 teams for the first time, held in the United States from June 14 to July 13, 2025.

Liverpool did not get selected as a participant as other clubs had a higher UEFA co-efficient.

Real Madrid, Manchester City, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, and of course, Bayern Munich will be participating this summer.

And  it seems that Dreesen is using the fact that Liverpool did not make it as a sticking point, asking people to “look at the clubs that aren’t represented”:

“The best European clubs are competing there – including FC Bayern.”

“Just look at which clubs are represented – and, above all, which aren’t.

All top players worldwide are aware of our appeal, sporting ambitions and economic power.”

It seems like a thinly veiled dig at Liverpool, and the Bavarian outlet Tz who broke the news also seemed to think so.

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