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FLORIAN WIRTZ LOOKS SET TO MOVE TO LIVERPOOL - AND THE TALENTED GERMAN WILL BE HOPING HIS TRANSFER TO MERSEYSIDE WILL BE SMOOTHER THAN THE TIME CONTROVERSY ENGULFED HIM 07:00, 31 May 2025

Florian Wirtz looks set to move to Liverpool, with Arne Slot's side launching a £109m bid for the golden boy of German football. The attacking midfielder, 22, appears to be on the brink

of what could be a record transfer to the newly-crowned Premier League champions, having snubbed rivals Manchester City and Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. It will be the second move of

Wirtz's career - with his first, from Cologne to Bayer Leverkusen, shrouded in controversy. After starting his career with SV Grün-Weiss Brauweiller, where his grandfather is the

chairman, the prodigious talent, who is renowned for his tremendous technical ability, dribbling skills and pinpoint passes, signed his first professional deal with Cologne, with fans at the

RheinEnergieStadion desperate to see him in action for The Billy Goats. He would spend a decade in their youth system, before abruptly calling time on his stint and jumping ship to

Leverkusen before making his first-team debut, overtaking Arsenal forward Kai Havertz as The Black and Reds' youngest ever player in the league, at the age of 17 years and 15 days.

However, the move was controversial - Cologne claimed Leverkusen had broken a gentleman's agreement between the three Rhineland clubs (Cologne, Leverkusen, and Borussia Monchengladbach)

not to sign each other's youth talents. The agreement had been in place since 2001, when Cologne signed 12-year-old Marco Quotschalla on an unprecedented eight-year contract from

Leverkusen. As a result, the trio of neighbours had agreed that they would not target each others' academy products in a bid to ensure the region's football maintained a consistent

conveyor belt of talent. Cologne were furious about Wirtz's move claiming the deal “[broke an] agreement between Cologne, Leverkusen and Mönchengladbach". Club officials ranted:

"That this was ignored shows us what kind of business we are in." DON'T MISS A THING WITH FOOTBALL UPDATES! Want to be on the ball with all of the latest football news? Well

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sign up for our sport email, Off the Ball, for all the latest darts, boxing, snooker, F1 stories and more, right here Leverkusen argued they were signing a player for their first team, with

then managing director Rudi Völler telling Kicker: "It would have been grossly negligent not to enter negotiations." Wirtz too would defend the move: "My switch to Leverkusen

at U17 level was solely my decision, as I saw better prospects for myself in Leverkusen - and it worked out that way too." Article continues below It certainly did, as he led Leverkusen

to their first ever Bundesliga title with his inspired performances as the focal point of former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso's invincible side. And after impressing in Germany,

Wirtz's next career move looks set to be to the banks of the River Mersey with Arne Slot's title winners.