It has been reported that Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, is getting ready to make a significant offer for a highly regarded European player who could take Kevin de Bruyne’s place.
In the summer of 2015, De Bruyne made the move from Wolfsburg, a German club, to Manchester United, and since then, he has established himself as one of the best midfielders who have ever played in the Premier League.
During his time in England, the Belgian player has been successful in winning every trophy that was available to him. He has won six Premier League titles, the Champions League, and the Club World Cup.
However, Guardiola must now consider who could replace De Bruyne’s place in the squad, and he has one major name in mind. De Bruyne’s current contract with City expires in just four months, so Guardiola must immediately make this decision.
Due to the fact that injuries continue to restrict the number of minutes that De Bruyne can play over the course of an entire season, it is almost certain that City will make the decision to not extend his contract during the summer.
Given his significance over the past few years, the 33-year-old will leave a significant void in the City squad. According to a recent report, Pep Guardiola is reportedly contemplating making a statement by signing the superstar midfielder Florian Wirtz in order to fill this void after his departure.
Wirtz has established himself as one of the most exciting talents in Europe after having a breakout season for Bayer Leverkusen and then going on to have standout performances for Germany at the Euro 2024 tournament.
Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that Sport Bild has disclosed that the manager of City believes the 21-year-old to be the ideal long-term replacement for De Bruyne once he leaves the club later this year.
According to the report, Guardiola had hoped that Wirtz could have joined the Premier League champions during the most recent winter transfer window. However, Beyer Leverkusen assured them that a move with them in the middle of the season would not be possible.
City will instead have to wait until the summer before they can launch a bid for Wirtz. However, he will not come cheap, as Leverkusen are reportedly anticipating a fee of approximately €150 million (£125 million) if they were to part ways with the young star this summer.
However, City will not be without competition in their pursuit of Wirtz’s signature. According to reports, Leverkusen are also hoping to bind him to a new contract that is significantly more favorable than the one he is currently under, since his current deal is set to expire in June of 2027.
Instead of running until 2028, the new contract that is being proposed to Wirtz will have a release clause that is approximately 125 million euros (104 million pounds) in value and would go into effect during the summer of 2026.
In an effort to persuade Wirtz to extend his contract with the Bayern Munich champions,
Furthermore, it is anticipated that his annual salary will rise from €8 million (£6.6 million) to over €10 million (£8.34 million) in the near future.
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