Liverpool FC reportedly met with Florian Wirtz and his family earlier this week to pitch a summer move to Anfield. Manchester City and Bayern Munich have also been heavily linked with the German international, who has racked up 22 goal contributions in 30 Bundesliga games this campaign.

With popular Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso joining Real Madrid at the end of the season, it is now deemed inevitable that Wirtz will take the next step in his young career. In City, Liverpool and Bayern, he has three of the top sides in Europe chasing his services.

Bayern were presumed to be the front-runners, with Wirtz reportedly making a verbal commitment that he would join up with fellow German starlet Jamal Musiala to form a dynamic attacking midfield pairing at the Allianz Arena.

But senior figures in Munich would reportedly need to reshuffle the squad in order to free up the funds necessary to sign the 22-year-old, who could leave Leverkusen for as much as £126million. That has seemingly opened the door to two Premier League heavyweights.

Reports indicate that City put their case forward on Tuesday by showing Wirtz and his family around their state-of-the-art training facilities. The Wirtz clan are also understood to have met with key personnel at the club as they weigh up their next move.

But in another twist to the pre-window transfer saga, Bild claim that Liverpool were also active during Wirtz's visit to England. The report states that Wirtz and his father, Hans, who is also his agent, met with Reds bosses on Tuesday.

Wirtz has scored 57 goals in 195 games since breaking through at Leverkusen as a teenager, and he also netted twice for Germany at Euro 2024 last summer. He may not be the only Leverkusen high-flyer to end up at Anfield during the upcoming transfer window.

The newly-crowned Premier League champions have ramped up their pursuit of full-back Jeremie Frimpong. The Dutch international could compete with Conor Bradley for the right-back starting berth on Merseyside, with current starter Trent Alexander-Arnold expected to join Real Madrid upon the expiration of his contract.

Liverpool have been cautious operators in the transfer market since Arne Slot took over from Jurgen Klopp. Federico Chiesa, who has hardly featured in the Premier League this term, and Giorgi Mamardashvili, who was immediately loaned back to Valencia, are the only two players the Reds have paid money for during Slot's reign.