Hans-Joachim Watzke on Florian Wirtz’s transfer to Liverpool: “I wouldn’t have had a problem at all if he had gone to Bayern. That would have been better for the Bundesliga.”

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·16 giugno 2025

Hans-Joachim Watzke on Florian Wirtz’s transfer to Liverpool: “I wouldn’t have had a problem at all if he had gone to Bayern. That would have been better for the Bundesliga.”

Immagine dell'articolo:Hans-Joachim Watzke on Florian Wirtz’s transfer to Liverpool: “I wouldn’t have had a problem at all if he had gone to Bayern. That would have been better for the Bundesliga.”

Speaking to kicker, Borussia Dortmund CEO and DFL Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Hans-Joachim Watzke, commented on the transfer of Florian Wirtz to Liverpool.

This week, Wirtz is expected to complete his move from Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool. The Premier League champions were able to fight off Bayern Munich for the 22-year-old’s signature. On Wirtz leaving the Bundesliga, Watzke said:

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“It’s a real shame, especially for the DFL, that a player like Florian Wirtz is leaving the Bundesliga. I wouldn’t have had a problem at all if he had gone to FC Bayern. That would have been better for the Bundesliga. It doesn’t really matter for the national team. He’ll play at the highest level in Liverpool, too. He could have worked better with Musiala in Munich, but two such good footballers can find each other anyway.”

During Watzke’s time at the Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund allowed three of their best players to move south to Bayern. Robert Lewandowski, Mario Götze and Mats Hummels all played a key role in Dortmund’s Bundesliga win in 2012 and their run to the Champions League final in 2013.

Since their 2012 Bundesliga win, Dortmund have never finished above Bayern in the league.

Opinion:

Now, I agree with Watzke’s take on Wirtz leaving the Bundesliga. It is a shame that the league is losing such a great player. However, the rest of his comment is straight wrong.

Wirtz moving to Bayern would have been detrimental to the Bundesliga, as Bayern already are so far ahead of everyone on the pitch and off it financially that it would just widen the gap even further.

You could make the argument that, from a marketing point of view, it would be great to pair him with Jamal Musiala, but that is the only positive. As long as Wirtz was at Bayern, very few people would be interested in watching the overall product as the outcome would already be known.

People want competitiveness, but that would not be it.

The comment also continues to show the mentality that is currently in place at Dortmund when it comes to their desire to at least try and compete for the Bundesliga title.

GGFN | Jack Meenan