Liverpool humbled after extraordinary Florian Wirtz, Real Madrid transfer truths confirmed | OneFootball

The CEO of Bayer Leverkusen has made a claim about Florian Wirtz and Real Madrid no one at Liverpool will wish to hear.

Wirtz briefly became the most expensive signing in British football history over the summer when joining Liverpool for £116m (£100m plus £16m in add-ons). He held that record for just over a month before Alexander Isak (£125m) took the mantle.

Wirtz has shown flashes of brilliance in a Liverpool shirt so far, but like many of his teammates, he’s not firing on all cylinders and end product has been sorely lacking.

There is a case to be made for those on the end of the chances he creates letting Wirtz down. Nevertheless, a return of zero goals and three assists in 14 matches across all competitions will not do.

And according to Bayer Leverkusen’s CEO, Fernando Carro, Wirtz could so easily have been Real Madrid’s problem to solve.

Speaking to German outlet Sport1, Carro sensationally claimed Wirtz would gladly have joined Real Madrid instead of Liverpool if given that chance.

“He would certainly have gone to Madrid,” said the Leverkusen chief, “If Xabi [Alonso] had made the offer. But Xabi has less say at Madrid than he did with us.”

Real Madrid were credited with interest in reuniting Alonso with Wirtz over the summer. Alonso was obviously Wirtz’s former manager at Leverkusen and helped turn the player into the superstar he is today.

However, Real Madrid never acted upon their interest and the race for Wirtz narrowed down to three clubs – Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Liverpool.

There were also murmurings Wirtz might sign a new and vastly improved contract at Leverkusen and reject all suitors – at least for one more season.

Carro confirmed in his interview that Leverkusen were willing to break their wage structure for Wirtz, but insisted the player believed his ambitions of winning the Champions League could only be met if joining a bigger side.

“He’s someone who wants to win the Champions League,” added Carro. “We thought that with this team we would have been able to go further than we did (in the 2024/25 season – Leverkusen lost in the Round of 16 to Bayern Munich).

“He saw that we had won the German championship, but that winning the Champions League with Bayer Leverkusen might be more difficult.”

Liverpool have the chance to prove to Wirtz he made the right call in moving to Anfield by defeating Real Madrid in the Champions League tonight.

Whether Wirtz – who has warmed the bench more than he’d like of late – will play a major or minor role in the outcome will become clear when the team sheets are announced.

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