Chelsea one of five Premier League clubs interested in German wonderkid
Cameron Smith
- 30 Oct 2023 12:38 GMT
- 4 min read
Chelsea are one of several elite European clubs keeping tabs on Bayer Leverkusen wonderkid Florian Wirtz, according to reports, after an immense start to the new season.
The Germany international suffered an ACL injury last campaign, but he is now back to his best and is a key reason why Xabi Alonso’s side are currently top of the Bundesliga.
FootballTransfers exclusively reported in August that Manchester City were interested in signing the 20-year-old and that information has been relayed by TEAMtalk.
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TEAMtalk’s Dean Jones has also reported that Chelsea contemplated signing Wirtz during the most recent transfer window, but decided against pursuing a move.
However, Mauricio Pochettino’s side are reportedly still keen and have not moved away from the idea of purchasing the Leverkusen star.
But, Chelsea aren’t the only club interested in signing Wirtz, with TEAMtalk reporting that at least four other Premier League teams are keen on the midfielder, namely Man City, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Newcastle United.
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In addition, Bayern Munich and Barcelona are also monitoring Wirtz’s progress and are interested in acquiring his services.
Barcelona will be hopeful of landing the German after he revealed back in 2021: ““I always want to be the best. As a kid, I dreamt of playing for Barcelona. That has not changed, but it can wait."
The Blaugrana’s limited transfer funds may make a deal tricky, however.
What else has been said?
Fabrizio Romano has also revealed that Wirtz is likely to be a major talking point during the 2024 summer transfer window.
He told CaughtOffside: ““Florian Wirtz is showing himself to be a top player at Bayer Leverkusen – one of the most exciting young talents in Europe, for sure, and Bayern Munich director Christoph Freund has already been asked about him.
“For now, Bayern are playing down the links as they have a lot of top players in a similar position, but from what I’m hearing there were a lot of big clubs looking at Wirtz in the summer.
“Nothing happened because Leverkusen considered him untouchable, but after Euro 2024 it could be possible for him to move.
“For now there is nothing concrete and it’s not guaranteed yet, because it will depend on the proposals and on the player’s decision, but many top clubs from Germany, England and Spain could be in the race.
“They are keeping an eye on him, and his form looks better than ever, so it’s not surprising that he could be one of the big names to watch on the market in 2024.”
Wirtz has made 13 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring five goals and providing eight assists.
