Florian Wirtz and parents spotted making secret trip to Manchester for Pep Guardiola and City meeting | OneFootball

Manchester City and Pep Guardiola are reported to have held a secret meeting with Florian Wirtz and his parents on Tuesday, according to German media.

It follows a flurry of reports from across German media on Tuesday indicating that Manchester City have now intensified their own pursuit of a player that is internally being viewed as the number one target to replace Kevin De Bruyne.

The Belgian midfielder will be leaving the Etihad Stadium upon the expiry of his contract at the end of June, and is believed to be weighing up options on his next club which include the likes of Napoli and MLS side The Chicago Fire.

Hugo Viana and Txiki Begiristain likely understand the importance of recruiting right when it comes to the creative midfield role to be left behind by De Bruyne, and while there seemed to be a growing feeling from Bayern Munich over Florian Wirtz, the saga is far from over.

City were reported to have opened talks with Wirtz over the idea of a transfer following the emergence of such details in German press on Tuesday, and the latest developments have pointed towards those talks taking place in-person.

That is according to the information of German newspaper BILD, who have now revealed that Florian Wirtz and his family flew to Manchester on Tuesday morning to meet with City and the club’s head coach, Pep Guardiola.

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It is reported that the party then landed back in Germany on Tuesday evening, where Wirtz’s father emerged from the terminal building alone, shaking hands with a BILD reporter, and got into a car without comment to pick up the rest of his family at another airport exit.

From the perspective of Bayern Munich, the report claims that the Bundesliga champions are still optimistic about their chances of signing the midfielder, but the latest development would indicate that Wirtz and his family are taking Manchester City seriously as an alternative.

Credit: Getty Images, Private

Additional reporting from Sky Sports News’ Lyall Thomas in England has also revealed that there is a verbal agreement on the framework of a deal for Florian Wirtz between Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen.

Etihad chiefs are said to be aware that Leverkusen would rather sell Wirtz to them than domestic rivals Bayern Munich, although it is clarified that the player is yet to make a final decision on his future.

For now, it remains to be seen how any successful deal for Florian Wirtz could affect Manchester City’s interest in their other midfield targets, with the club expected to be frontrunners for Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White when the season ends.

There is also believed to be concrete interest in AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders, although it is believed that any formal move for the Netherlands international will be entirely separate to bids for Wirtz or the aforementioned England international.

Elsewhere and Manchester City are expected to move for a new right-sided full-back, with Newcastle United’s Tino Livramento and Flamengo’s Wesley among the candidates to take on the role within the Etihad Stadium from next season.