Real Madrid ‘offer’ surprising swap deal for Liverpool star who’s been ‘screwed over’ | OneFootball

Real Madrid are willing to swap Turkey international Arda Guler for Florian Wirtz in a swap deal with Liverpool, according to reports.

Arne Slot’s side signed Wirtz in the summer transfer window in a deal worth an initial £100m from Bayer Leverkusen with another £16m in add-ons.

The Wirtz signing was part of a summer outlay from Liverpool that passed £400m as the Reds board backed Slot, who won the Premier League title in his first season at Anfield.

However, the many of their summer signings have yet to perform at their best at Liverpool with Wirtz one of those who has been struggling at times.

The Germany international is yet to contribute a goal or an assist in 15 Premier League appearances but he has provided two assists in the Champions League.

There have been some rumours that Wirtz could already be on his way out of Liverpool next summer and the latest reports from Spain indicate that Real Madrid have made the ‘offer’ of a swap.

Real Madrid ‘could pull off a surprising swap deal’ involving their attacking midfielder Guler and Wirtz with the former feeling like ‘he has been betrayed’ by Real Madrid with Jude Bellingham starting ahead of him once again.

The report adds: ‘Liverpool have shown interest in Güler on several occasions, and now they could seize the opportunity to lure him away from Real Madrid. In return, the German starlet could also be included in the deal, as he has been one of the biggest disappointments of the season so far. His adaptation to the Premier League has been far more difficult than expected, and he has failed to justify the enormous investment made to sign him.’

The report continues: ‘Swapping Güler for Wirtz would be a logical move for both clubs, but it goes without saying that reaching an agreement is highly unlikely. After all, it’s important to remember that Liverpool paid over €130m for him.’

Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness recently insists that Slot “promised” Wirtz that the Liverpool team would be built around him this season.

Hoeness told Bild earlier this month: “They spent £500 million and are having a disastrous season.

“In my opinion, that’s because they only have superstars. I always say: Liverpool will soon have to play with five balls because the stars won’t give up any of them.

“Poor Florian Wirtz, he doesn’t even get a ball because [Mohamed] Salah and [Dominik] Szoboszlai and all the others want to play with their own.”

Hoeness added: “Slot promised Wirtz something that he’s now clearly not keeping: building the new team around him with no10 shirt. That was rubbish.

“He got the number 7 shirt, and the new team is clearly not playing around Florian Wirtz.

“I feel terribly sorry for Florian Wirtz. Everything went through him in Leverkusen. In Liverpool, he gets five passes in a half – and if he loses the ball twice, he gets a bad rating.”

But former Germany international Mario Basler doesn’t think that Liverpool screwed over Wirtz like Hoeness suggested in his interview.

“(Arne Slot has to) field the best team, field the best players. He (Wirtz) only gets five balls in a half. And if he loses two of them, he gets a bad grade. If we compare Florian to his time at Leverkusen, he’s still a ways off from his best form.

“It’s a different style of football, a different mentality on the island. And you’re scrutinized differently. You’re a foreigner, so you have to play exceptionally well.

“Whether Florian did himself a big favor by going to Liverpool is debatable. It could also have been a mistake. I can’t say whether they made any concessions to him. Uli might know more about that.”