Pep Guardiola leading Manchester City transfer pursuit of Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz | OneFootball

Manchester City remain an interested party in the hunt to sign Bayer Leverkusen’s star attacking midfielder, Florian Wirtz.

The Premier League champions, despite having spent in excess of €200 million during the most recent transfer window, are already planning for the summer market and the 2025/26 campaign after a disappointing ongoing season.

Having exited the Carabao Cup at the fourth round stage via defeat to Tottenham, a torrid two month spell in the Premier League and Champions League across November and December sparked the end of their top-flight title chase and hopes of an automatic last-16 spot.

As such, City now find themselves in a battle for the Premier League’s top-four positions and facing the prospect of an exit to Real Madrid in a last-16 play-off place on Wednesday night, having lost the first-leg 2-3 at the Etihad Stadium.

And in order to avoid any continued downfall in their performances during the next campaign, significant and further investment is being anticipated from Manchester City, who seemingly have their eyes on some of the best names in European football.

According to the information of BILD’s Christian Falk, City manager Pep Guardiola still wants Florian Wirtz to join his operation at the Etihad, and the club even reportedly tried to recruit the German star in the recent winter window.

However, it is stressed that Wirtz is on the verge of extending his contractual agreement with Bayer Leverkusen until the summer of 2028, but with the deal containing an exit clause for the summer of 2026.

It remains to be seen just how much Bayer Leverkusen could demand for a player of Florian Wirtz’s quality, with the Germany star also believed to be of serious interest to Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the coming months.

One report during the January market indicated that a fee north of £100 million would be expected for either Wirtz or his national team colleague Jamal Musiala, however an update concerning the latter’s future has changed the picture.

Having extended his Bayern Munich contract until the summer of 2030, it is now understood that Jamal Musiala’s deal at the Allianz Arena includes an eye-watering €175 million release clause which could turn away a lot of suitors within the game.