Liverpool, Man City dealt ‘blow’ as Alonso ‘decision’ will ‘impact’ summer transfer of £95m star
Liverpool and Manchester City have reportedly been dealt a ‘blow’ as Xabi Alonso’s ‘decision’ will impact their pursuit of a Bayer Leverkusen star.
Alonso had been the favourite to replace Jurgen Klopp but he recently announced that he will stick with Bayer Leverkusen for at least one more season.
Liverpool, City ‘blow’
The Spaniard is working wonders at Leverkusen as his team is unbeaten this season across all competitions and 13 points clear of Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga table.
Several Leverkusen players are superstars in the making and their form this season has fuelled reports linking them with a summer move elsewhere.
Florian Wirtz is arguably Leverkusen’s best player as the 20-year-old has emerged as one of the standout young attacking talents in Europe. The 20-year-old has 11 goals and 17 assists in his 37 appearances this term across all competitions.
It was suggested at the end of last year that he could cost as much as £95m if he leaves Leverkusen and Liverpool have been mooted as a potential destination amid reported interest in Alonso.
However, according to HITC, ‘Liverpool and Man City both believe their plans to land Wirtz are set to be impacted by Alonso’s decision to stay at Bayer Leverkusen’.
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It is said that Liverpool and Man City have been ‘keeping tabs’ on Wirtz, while Bayern Munich are ‘also very much in the mix’. But HITC believes the three clubs are ‘set to be disappointed’. They explain.
‘Bayern Munich are also very much in the mix for Wirtz and would love to pair him with Jamal Musiala, as they have seen Julian Nagelsmann do in Germany’s recent friendly successes over France and the Netherlands.
‘However, Bayern, Liverpool and Man City look set to be disappointed in the short-term at least, as HITC is told by sources with knowledge of the situation that Wirtz is set to stick with Leverkusen for another season – alongside Alonso.
‘HITC has been told that Bayer hope that a number of star names, including Jeremie Frimpong, Piero Hincapié, Exequiel Palacios and Victor Boniface could be persuaded to stay for at least one more season.’
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“That is rightly how long he will stay at Leverkusen…”
Speaking last month, Wirtz’s father and agent suggested that Wirtz is likely to stick with Bayer Leverkusen “until 2027”.
“Florian has a contract in Leverkusen until 2027,” Hans-Joachim Wirtz said in an interview with Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger.
“That is roughly how long he will stay at Leverkusen. There’s no answer what will happen when. We should wait for the next two years and then we’ll see what happens.”
He added: “Florian is very lucky to have Xabi Alonso, who brings a lot of qualities.
“He has a great relationship with the whole team. It’s the right coach at the right time.”
