Newcastle United handed major boost in race to sign German prodigy, Liverpool also interested

Newcastle United have been handed some encouragement in their transfer pursuit of Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz. While Barcelona were once considered one of the favourites to sign him, they have now reportedly pulled out of the race [via SPORT].

The Catalonian giants consider Wirtz to be too expensive for them - given their ongoing financial difficulties, it is likely that they will instead turn their attention to a more affordable target. Given his potential, he could cost any of his potential suitors as much as £87 million to complete a transfer.

Wirtz has had a mixed season in the Bundesliga so far. He has three goals to his name in all competitions, alongside four assists - these aren’t poor numbers by any means, but he is capable of more. For example, in the 2021/22 season, Wirtz scored seven goals and notched up ten assists in the league alone.

Who else, besides Newcastle United, are interested in a move for Florian Wirtz?

Despite Barcelona’s withdrawal, Newcastle are far from alone in their pursuit of the 20-year-old. Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Liverpool are also thought to be interested in Wirtz [via Fichajes]. Additionally, Real Madrid were thought to be monitoring the player back in March, but nothing has surfaced regarding their potential interest since then [via ESPN].

What would Florian Wirtz add to the squad?

Wirtz is a wonderfully creative player who generally plays as an attacking midfielder - not only does he possess a range of passing, he is also an excellent carrier of the ball. He has played 21 key passes in the Bundesliga thus far - only Joshua Kimmich, Andrej Kramaric and Franck Honorat have completed more up to this point in the season [via FBref].

As such, should the Magpies strike a deal with Leverkusen for the services of Wirtz, he would be an excellent creative influence in the middle of the park.