Man City reach ‘verbal agreement’ to sign Florian Wirtz

Manchester City have reportedly reached a “verbal agreement” with Bayer Leverkusen over a deal to sign Florian Wirtz this summer.

The 22-year-old is currently one of the most sought-after players in world football and Man City are battling for his signature as they look to sign a suitable long-term replacement for Kevin De Bruyne.

The Belgium international has confirmed that he will be leaving the Etihad Stadium upon the expiration of his contract in July and Wirtz has been identified as Man City’s priority replacement target, along with Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.

Bayern Munich have, however, reached a contractual agreement with Wirtz, as per multiple reports, and they are currently pushing to finalise a deal this summer. The Germany international has even informed Leverkusen of his desire to join Bayern before the start of the new Bundesliga season.

Despite this, Leverkusen are eager to sell Wirtz to a foreign club and they have now verbally agreed to offload him to Man City, according to Sky Sport.

Florian Wirtz to leave Bayer Leverkusen

Leverkusen are reportedly willing to accept a €50 million reduction if they are able to sell Wirtz to a club outside the Bundesliga, although Bayern are currently offering the 22-year-old a better salary package than Man City.

Sky Sport claim that the eight-time Premier League champions have introduced a salary cap whereby no player is able to earn more than Pep Guardiola, and they are therefore unwilling to match Bayern’s current wage offer for Wirtz – which exceeds Guardiola’s salary.

Xabi Alonso has not given up hope of bringing Wirtz with him to Real Madrid either, so a three-way tussle for the Germany star’s signature is expected to continue throughout the next few weeks.

However, while Man City have reached a verbal agreement with Bayer Leverkusen, Wirtz is currently aiming to join Bayern before the start of the 2024-25 campaign.

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