Report: Florian Wirtz could return to Leverkusen immediately after Liverpool’s next match | OneFootball

Less than two months after becoming Liverpool’s club-record signing, Florian Wirtz could return to Leverkusen next week.

The Germany playmaker left Bayer 04 for the Premier League champions on 20 June in a £116m deal, with considerable excitement among Reds supporters at the thought of what he could produce on Merseyside over the coming years, having been hailed as potentially one of the ‘best in the world’ by international teammate Ilkay Gundogan.

The timing of the transfer meant that he didn’t get a proper chance to say goodbye to fans of his former club, but plans are afoot for that to be rectified.

Leverkusen planning official farewell for Wirtz

According to Sport.de, Bayer Leverkusen are planning an official farewell to Wirtz next Tuesday, when Erik ten Hag’s side host Serie A newcomers Pisa in a friendly at the BayArena.

Sources have indicated that ‘it is the absolute will’ of the Bundesliga club – and indeed the 22-year-old – for him to have the opportunity to say goodbye to their supporters, having not been able to do so at the end of last season as it was unclear at that stage whether or not he would leave.

The ceremony is planned for the day after Liverpool take on Athletic Bilbao in a double header at Anfield, and the German outfit have lodged a request to the Merseysiders to release the player from training for next Tuesday and Wednesday.

No decision has yet been made from L4 as to whether or not Wirtz will be granted permission to return to his former club for the proposed farewell.

(Photo by Pau Barrena/Getty Images)

Understandable from Leverkusen, but not ideal for Liverpool

Having gone from being a teenage starlet to a global superstar in his five years at Leverkusen – where he was a key player in their unbeaten domestic double in 2023/24 – it’d be difficult to begrudge the player his chance to say a proper goodbye to the club’s fans at the BayArena next Tuesday.

However, he’s now an employee of Liverpool FC, and it wouldn’t be ideal for him to miss two days of training so close to the start of the Premier League season (and in the week leading up to the Community Shield).

Several beloved Reds who moved on from Merseyside in recent years never had their chance for a poignant farewell in front of a packed Anfield – Adam Lallana, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz spring to mind.

If Wirtz is desperate for the opportunity to go back to Leverkusen and show his appreciation for his former club, and if him doing so wouldn’t be overly disruptive to LFC’s pre-season preparations, then it seems likely that he’ll receive his employers’ blessing to make the trip to Germany.

Fans of Bayer 04 certainly can’t be blamed for wanting the chance to say goodbye to one of the best players in their modern history, one who’ll hopefully go on to earn a similarly deified status among the Liverpool faithful in the coming years.