Did Wirtz unknowingly play a key role in the Flick-Salihamidzic row at Bayern?

Lothar Matthäus claims one of the reasons Hansi Flick and Hasan Salihamidzic fell out at Bayern was that the former wanted to sign Florian Wirtz and the latter didn’t. Salihamidzic, however, denies this.

Back in the summer of 2021, Hansi Flick left his post as Bayern Munich coach amid speculation that he had fallen out with the club’s then board member for sport Hasan Salihamidzic.

According to former Bayern Munich star Lothar Matthäus, one of the areas of disagreement between Flick and Salihamidzic was whether to attempt to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.

“Why was there a dispute between Hansi Flick and Hasan Salihamidzic? Because Flick wanted to bring in players, who had developed very well at the age of 17. I’m thinking of Florian Wirtz,” Matthäus told Sky Germany.

“That was a point of conflict between Hansi Flick and Bayern Munich. I think he would have been available. But Bayern Munich didn’t want him. Hasan apparently didn’t. That’s how it came across in the discussions at the time.”

Salihamidzic, however, denies that there was any dispute between him and Flick over Wirtz.

“There was never this argument that Lothar Matthäus is talking about. I also never discussed a transfer of Florian Wirtz with Hansi Flick. That’s complete nonsense. As a pundit, Lothar should check his sources before spreading such unfounded rumors and stop spreading lies about me and FC Bayern,” said Salihamidzic, who was sacked by Bayern in the summer of 2023, in an interview with Bild.

“It’s true that we followed Florian Wirtz’s development since he was a youth player. Our entire scouting department and the club were impressed by his talent and ability. However, after several attempts, we had to accept that Florian wanted to develop in his family environment and complete his school education at home. We respected that.

“During Julian Nagelsmann’s time at the club, we looked at Wirtz even though he had just torn his cruciate ligament. That alone shows how convinced we were of the player. But at the time, a transfer was not possible due to his contract situation and career plans.”