Liverpool told why Florian Wirtz joined them over Real Madrid as contract claim made

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Florian Wirtz was linked with the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Man City before then completing his blockbuster £116m transfer to Liverpool.Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro thinks Florian Wirtz would've rejected Liverpool to sign for Real Madrid if the La Liga giants had bid for the Germany star. 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."At Real Madrid, it was different.

"Because he was telling me he came also at 22 to Liverpool."Meanwhile, Carro also revealed that Leverkusen had been willing to break their wage structure to keep Wirtz at the club, suggesting it looked like an extension may be agreed at one point but conceded the German outfit had 'pestered him too much'."The Wirtz family and Florian knew that extending their contracts was our top priority," he added. His parents are his advisors, and I think it's good that they fully respect Florian's wishes."Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL packageThis article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it.

Learn moreSky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games this season, an increase of up to 100 more.Carro also conceded that Wirtz’s desire to win the Champions League was a motivating factor in his decision to leave Leverkusen, and he revealed that - despite reports suggesting otherwise at the time - the midfielder never reached an agreement with Bayern Munich."I don't think that was ever true (about Bayern)," he said. 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."Wirtz has endured a mixed start to his Liverpool career, returning three assists from his 14 appearances for the club to date.He is yet to return a goal contribution in the Premier League, though, and has been utilised as a substitute against Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United and Aston Villa in recent weeks, with reports in Spain suggesting Real Madrid are monitoring his situation as a result.However, Wirtz will be hoping for a recall to Arne Slot's starting XI when Liverpool host Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night.