Real Madrid are willing to swap Turkey international Arda Guler for Florian Wirtz in a swap deal with Liverpool, according to reports.
Arne Slot’s side signed Wirtz in the summer transfer window in a deal worth an initial £100m from Bayer Leverkusen with another £16m in add-ons.
The Wirtz signing was part of a summer outlay from Liverpool that passed £400m as the Reds board backed Slot, who won the Premier League title in his first season at Anfield.
However, many of their summer signings have yet to perform at their best at Liverpool, with Wirtz among those who have struggled at times.
The Germany international is yet to contribute a goal or an assist in 15 Premier League appearances, although he has provided two assists in the Champions League.
There have been rumors that Wirtz could already be on his way out of Liverpool next summer, with the latest reports from Spain indicating that Real Madrid have made an offer for a swap.
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Real Madrid ‘could pull off a surprising swap deal’ involving their attacking midfielder Guler and Wirtz, with the former feeling ‘betrayed’ by Real Madrid as Jude Bellingham continues to start ahead of him.
The report adds: ‘Liverpool have shown interest in Güler on several occasions, and now they could seize the opportunity to lure him away from Real Madrid. In return, the German starlet could also be included in the deal, as he has been one of the season’s biggest disappointments so far. His adaptation to the Premier League has proven more challenging than expected, and he hasn’t justified the significant investment made in his signing.’
It continues: ‘Swapping Güler for Wirtz would be logical for both clubs, but reaching an agreement is highly unlikely, especially considering Liverpool paid over €130m for him.’
Bayern Munich’s honorary president Uli Hoeness recently insisted that Slot “promised” Wirtz that the Liverpool team would be built around him this season.
Hoeness told Bild earlier this month: “They spent £500 million and are having a disastrous season. In my opinion, that’s because they only have superstars. I always say: Liverpool will soon have to play with five balls because the stars won’t give up any of them. Poor Florian Wirtz doesn’t even get a ball because [Mohamed] Salah, [Dominik] Szoboszlai, and others want to play with their own.”
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Hoeness added: “Slot promised Wirtz something he’s now clearly not keeping: building the new team around him with the number 10 shirt. That was rubbish. He got the number 7 shirt, and the new team isn’t clearly playing around Florian Wirtz.”
Former Germany international Mario Basler disagrees with Hoeness, stating that Liverpool hasn’t mistreated Wirtz.
Basler told Absolut Fussball: “I wouldn’t say that Liverpool ‘screwed over’ Wirtz. (Arne Slot has to) field the best team, field the best players. He (Wirtz) only gets five balls in a half, and if he loses two of them, he gets a bad grade. Compared to his time at Leverkusen, he’s still far from his best form. It’s a different style of football on the island, and you’re scrutinized differently as a foreigner.”
“Whether Florian did himself a favor by going to Liverpool is debatable. It could have been a mistake. I can’t say if they made concessions to him. Uli might know more about that.”