Bayern Munich chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has announced that his club will target the signing of Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz this summer.
Manchester City have been long-term admirers of Wirtz, 21, who played a key role in Leverkusen winning a domestic double under Xabi Alonso last season.
The Premier League champions had appeared to be in pole position to sign Wirtz at the end of the season, in a deal that could see James McAtee go in the opposite direction.
However, Bayern have now officially entered the race for Wirtz’s signature, with Rummenigge – who is a supervisory board member at Bayern – declaring that the Bundesliga giants want to poach ‘the best player in Germany’ from their rivals.
In an interview with AZ, Rummenigge said he makes ‘no secret of the fact that it must clearly be our goal to sign Wirtz.’
He added: ‘Everyone at FC Bayern agrees that he is exactly the player we want to sign. Not to weaken Leverkusen, but to strengthen us.’
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (pictured) has claimed Bayern Munich will try to sign Florian Wirtz
Wirtz has emerged as one of Europe’s top talents at Bayer Leverkusen in recent seasons
Bayern entering the race could be a blow for Pep Guardiola’s Man City who are also interested in Wirtz
Bayern’s honorary president Uli Hoeness recently spoke about Wirtz’s qualities in a separate interview with AZ, but admitted there could be financial obstacles given that the attacking midfielder still has over two years left on his Leverkusen contract.
However, he pointed out that Bayern have ‘already proven in the case of Harry Kane that we can push ourselves to the limit. And if we are convinced that a player would really improve FC Bayern, then we would try to do our homework.’
Wirtz has scored 56 goals and registered 63 assists in 188 games for Leverkusen and established himself as one of Europe’s top talents, despite suffering an ACL injury in 2022.
He returned better than ever from that serious injury, and has also emerged as a key player for Germany, earning 29 caps before his 22nd birthday.
Bayern will have to try and keep Wirtz quiet before they can think about signing him after drawing their domestic rivals in the last-16 of the Champions League.
The first leg of their knockout tie takes place at the Allianz Arena next Wednesday before the return leg in Leverkusen six days later.