Florian Wirtz's ex-teammate shares passionate transfer plea to Liverpool star - 'Don’t do this'

Florian Wirtz found himself in the middle of a huge transfer battle in the summer, with Liverpool beating Bayern Munich to his signature after some advice from a teammate

Florian Wirtz joined Liverpool after being strongly linked with Bayern Munich(Image: Getty Images)

Florian Wirtz was urged not to join Bayern Munich by a former teammate before he secured his record-breaking move to Liverpool.

Wirtz of course joined the Reds during the summer to become the club’s record signing - a title he held until Alexander Isak’s arrival from Newcastle on deadline day.

After a slow start at Anfield, the 22-year-old has begun to find his feet, having grabbed three goals and two assists in his last six appearances. Arne Slot has put his upturn in form down to him adapting to life in the Premier League, having undergone a weight-gaining programme since his arrival from the Bundesliga.

Wirtz arrived at Liverpool after much speculation over his next destination in the summer. The forward had looked destined to move on following an impressive spell at Bayer Leverkusen, in which he helped the club to an unbeaten domestic double under Xabi Alonso in 2024.

Bayern was strongly linked with his services, as was Manchester City, although it was the Reds that would eventually win the race - perhaps helped by one of Wirtz’s former teammates.

Leverkusen midfielder Robert Andrich has revealed to the Spielmacher podcast (as per @iMiaSanMia on X) that he pleaded with Wirtz not to make the move to Munich, telling him: "Please don't go to Bayern.

"I honestly thought he'd go there. I told him at some point: Please don’t do it. Don’t do this to us.

“You can say that for German football, we need German talents to stay here - but in the end there's only Bayern Munich at the very top when we talk about quality like Flo's.

“I wanted him to go abroad. I told the Bayern guys that, too. I was happy for him that he took the step. I wouldn't have thought he'd dare to go abroad so soon."

Robert Andrich urged Florian Wirtz not to join Bayern Munich(Image: Getty Images)

Bayern had tried to sign the German international, although club chief Uli Hoeness has suggested the club balked at Wirtz’s price tag, with Liverpool eventually securing him in a deal worth £116 million ($156.7M). His move to Merseyside has drawn some bitter responses from Bavaria though.

"They spent €500m and are having a disastrous season," Hoeness said at the end of last year, as quoted by BILD. "In my opinion, that’s because they only have superstars. They only have chiefs and no workers.

"I always say: at Liverpool, they’ll soon have to play with five balls because the stars won’t give up any of them. Poor Florian Wirtz, he doesn’t even get a ball there because Salah and Szoboszlai and all the others want to play with their own."