After Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, now Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz is being linked to Real Madrid.
And these aren’t just loose internet links either, with all three seeing key figures in their careers speak up over switching Anfield for the Bernabeu, just like Trent Alexander-Arnold.
First it was Mac Allister’s father linking his son with Madrid, and then Szoboszlai’s Hungary manager Marco saying his captain has dreamed of Madrid since childhood.
This time around it’s Florian Wirtz’s agent Volker Struth.
What Wirtz’s agent told Xabi Alonso about Real Madrid
Speaking to BILD, he said: “During the period when a move to Liverpool or Bayern was being discussed, I called Xabi Alonso and told him: ‘You have to take the lad from Leverkusen with you to Real.’
“Xabi replied: ‘You don’t have to tell me that, you have to tell Florentino Pérez.’ So I actually sent him a message…”
He claims the message read: “Dear Florentino, I’ve told you this many times before: I have a player here whom I would highly recommend. Florian Wirtz makes every team in the world better.”
Why Real Madrid didn’t move for Wirtz — yet
Struth finished: “That year, it simply wasn’t the right time due to the squad and the budget. Even Real Madrid’s coffers aren’t always full.
“But my wish remains that Florian will play there one day.”
Wirtz’s tough start at Liverpool
Wirtz became Liverpool’s most expensive signing at £106million, only for Alexander Isak to break that weeks later.
However, despite the heavy investment, they ended the season trophyless.
Meanwhile, the team he snubbed, Bayern Munich, have been full of glee.
“They spent 500 million and are having a disastrous season. In my opinion, that’s because you only have superstars now,” honorary president Uli Hoeness said.
“I always say: In Liverpool they will soon have to play with five balls because the stars don’t want to give up any more balls.
“Poor Florian Wirtz, he doesn’t get a single ball there because Salah and Szoboszlai and all the others want to play with their own ball.”
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge added: “I have to honestly say that I still feel sorry for Florian Wirtz.
“I think he would have been better off at Bayern Munich than at Liverpool.
“We could have signed Nick Woltemade. But I also have to say that FC Bayern would be wise not to indulge in all the financial madness.
“I’ve always said: we want sporting success, but with serious and solid funding. We have a top-level team.
“We’ll be back this year too. And if the three players currently injured (Jamal Musiala, Alphonso Davies, Hiroki Ito) return soon, we’ll have a great team.”
Hoeness later added: “Apparently, Slot promised him something that he is now clearly not keeping.
“He promised him that he would get the number 10 and that he would build a new team around him.
“That’s rubbish! He got the number 7 and the new team plays everything but around Florian Wirtz.
“I feel terribly sorry for Wirtz. He got all the balls in Leverkusen. In Liverpool he gets five balls in one half – and if two are lost he gets a bad grade.
“The season is almost over for Liverpool because the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal is too big.”
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