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Manchester City have reportedly expressed their desire to sign Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Florian Wirtz, with Real Madrid and Barcelona also interested.
According to Fichajes.net, the trio are keen to sign the 19-year-old midfielder in the summer. Despite his young age, Wirtz has made four appearances for Germany’s senior team. The player, who has been with Leverkusen since June 2020 runs out of contract in 2027.
Wirtz is reportedly valued at a staggering €70 million. While Leverkusen value him highly, they're not opposed to letting him leave for the right price. The Bundesliga outfit are hopeful of getting €90-110 million for the player.
The former FC Koln U17 team player has impressed with his passing range and creativity at Leverkusen. He keeps the game flowing with short passes, can switch play to wide areas with long balls and has a knack of scoring too. In 91 games for Leverkusen, he has bagged 21 goals and 28 assists.
Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona have stacked squads, with multiple players capable of playing in the middle. However, going by their default formations, City are the only team who could deploy Wirtz in his natural attacking midfield role.
With Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva linked with moves away from the club, Wirtz could get regular minutes under Pep Guardiola at the Etihad.
Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta reveals why he briefly supported Real Madrid
In an interview with TyC Sports, Barcelona icon Andres Iniesta explained why he briefly supported Real Madrid in his childhood. The legendary midfielder said that he supported Real Madrid after Barcelona beat his boyhood club Albacete Balompie 7-1 in 1992.
Revealing the story, where he says that he supports Los Blancos “all the way”, Iniesta told TyC Sports:
“As a youngster, I was for Barca and for Albacete, the team from my region. But my first team was Albacete, and then it was Barca. It was of those things that you can have as a child, one day Barca scored seven goals against Albacete, and I got angry at Barca, and there was some time where I was a bit confused with my own mind.”
Iniesta spent his entire senior career at Barca before joining Japanese side Vissel Kobe in 2018. He played 674 games for the Blaugrana, scoring 57 goals and winning four UEFA Champions League and nine La Liga titles.
