Rudi Völler on Florian Wirtz's move to Liverpool: 'A few months ago, he hinted to me, as did his father, that he was inclined to go to Liverpool.'
Rudi Völler on Florian Wirtz's move to Liverpool: 'A few months ago, he hinted to me, as did his father, that he was inclined to go to Liverpool.'
Speaking on Toni Kroos' podcast 'Einfach Mal Luppen' (via Sport1), DFB Sporting Director Rudi Völler commented on Florian Wirtz's move to Liverpool.
Despite no longer being the sporting director of Bayer Leverkusen, Völler is still close to the club and is regularly seen in the stands at the BayArena. Völler revealed some details about the whole saga surrounding Wirtz:
'I knew from my proximity to Bayer Leverkusen, also from his family or from him himself, what inquiries he had – it wasn't just Liverpool or Bayern Munich, there were others too.'
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The former striker then revealed that despite the media portraying Bayern Munich as the favourites to sign the 22-year-old this summer, it seemingly wasn't the case:
'A few months ago, he hinted to me, as did his father, that he was inclined to go to Liverpool.'
Wirtz's move to Liverpool will be concluded this week as he is expected to begin the initial stages of his medical today, reports Sky Germany, before everything is finalised tomorrow and the move is announced.
However, Völler did reveal what everyone was hoping would happen to the Köln native this summer:
'Everyone was kind of hoping that he would stay here in Leverkusen for another year and not leave until after the World Cup. That would have been my preferred solution. But this is absolutely fine.'
Now, Leverkusen are left with a big rebuild of their squad after the departures of Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong to Liverpool, Jonathan Tah to Bayern and head coach Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid. The main earned from Wirtz's move can also be used to begin the major overhaul of the squad.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
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