6 hours ago
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Bayer Leverkusen's head honcho, Fernando Carro, has claimed that Florian Wirtz would have chosen Real Madrid over Liverpool if Los Blancos had tabled an offer for the German.
The Reds managed to outmanoeuvre Bayern Munich and Manchester City in a deal to secure the midfielder. The 22-year-old was linked with a move to the Santiago Bernabeu, especially after Xabi Alonso left Leverkusen to take the reins at Madrid.
Carro is of the opinion that Wirtz would have jumped at the opportunity to reunite with Alonso in Madrid - having clinched the Bundesliga title and German Cup under the former midfielder at the BayArena - while shedding light on why a move to Spain didn't materialise.
"He would certainly have gone to Madrid, Carro told SPORT1's Doppelpass. "If Xabi had made the offer. But Xabi has less say at Madrid than he does with us.
"One of Xabi Alonso's great strengths was his ability to work with our scouting department to define who needed to be in our team. At Real Madrid, it was different, Florentino Perez decides the transfers, not Xabi Alonso."
Wirtz had previously shared that Alonso was thrilled to see the playmaker join his old club at Anfield. "He was really happy that I am coming here," he disclosed during his medical. "Because he was telling me he came also at 22 to Liverpool."
Meanwhile, Carro also revealed that Leverkusen had been ready to obliterate its salary ceiling in a desperate bid to retain Wirtz at the club, suggesting it seemed an extension might be finalized at one point but conceded the German outfit had bothered him excessively.
"The Wirtz family and Florian knew that extending their contracts was our top priority," he added. "We were very cautious with salaries during the summer transfers.
"But we would have been prepared to make an exception for Florian.
"Definitely in a range that Bayer Leverkusen has never seen before. We were prepared to cross the line and give everything to extend the contract.
"And for a while, it looked like it might work out. I know that we sometimes pestered him too much. But, in the end, Florian decided what he wanted to do, as his parents are his advisors, and I think it's good that they fully respect Florian's wishes."
Carro also recognized that Wirtz's desire to claim the Champions League was a key factor behind his choice to leave Leverkusen, and he verified that - despite claims suggesting otherwise at the time - the midfielder never reached an arrangement with Bayern Munich.
"I don't think that was ever true (about Bayern)," he said. "Our information from Papa Wirtz was, 'That's not correct.'
"He's someone who wants to win the Champions League. We thought that with this team, we would have been able to go further than we did. He saw that we had won the German championship, but winning the Champions League with Bayer Leverkusen might be more difficult."
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