Manchester City have ‘advantage’ over Real Madrid for Bundesliga star

Since he became a regular for Bayer Leverkusen, Florian Wirtz has had no shortage of scouts from around the Europe attending his games. In the years since, the number of scouts watching him may have declined, but only because it has become clear that it will be a handful of clubs that can afford the German international.

A large proportion of those who can are pursuing him. Real Madrid have for some time earmarked Wirtz as a player that would fit their needs, and more so with the potential arrival of current Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso in the near future. Meanwhile it is no surprise that Manchester City are eyeing a move for Wirtz, as are Bayern Munich.

The German giants are keen to unite Wirtz with international teammate Jamal Musiala, with the pair tipped to be the defining stars off German football for the next decade. They are confident of doing so, and focusing all of their efforts on persuading Wirtz to move to Bavaria. However they will not move for Wirtz until 2026. By the same token, Real Madrid do not plan to pursue Wirtz this summer, focusing their efforts elsewhere.

However Manchester City are willing to move for Wirtz this summer, which could throw a spanner in the works for both. The Daily Briefing explains that agent Giovanni Branchini is now working with City to try and persuade Wirtz to join City this summer. Leverkusen are set to offer him a contract with release clause for 2026 too.

It has been reported in Spain that Real Madrid see Wirtz as a long-term successor to Luka Modric. Although Wirtz tends to operate further forward than Modric has in recent years, they see a similar capacity for solving problems on the ball in the pair, and believe Wirtz could provide the incisive touch Modric has for so long.