Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has admitted that the sight of Florian Wirtz edging closer to joining Liverpool 'stings a little bit', but the German's decision to snub Pep Guardiola's side 'will not make or break' their plans for the future.
The Citizens had been heavily linked with a move for the highly-rated Bayer Leverkusen midfielder, who was regarded by many as an ideal replacement for departing club legend Kevin De Bruyne.
However, recent reports claim that Man City have cooled their interest in the 22-year-old owing to the soaring costs of any proposed deal that could be worth as much as €300m (£252.5m), inclusive of transfer fees and wages.
Bayern Munich are another club who have held a keen interest in Wirtz, but Premier League champions Liverpool now appear to be leading the race for his signature, with their first official bid submitted earlier this week.
McInerney does not believe that Man City have withdrawn from the race to sign Wirtz for financial reasons and feels that the player himself is simply favouring a move to Anfield.
"It's very obvious that Wirtz just fancies Liverpool"
Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney said: "I don't think City have cooled their interest. I think [Wirtz] has said no to them, so they have no choice.
"I just don't believe City have cooled their interest, I think [Wirtz] has gone, 'No I'm not interested unfortunately I'm going to Liverpool', and City went 'okay fair enough'.
"It's not the price of it. I don't think it's that at all. I think City have to come out and pretend they've pulled out for whatever reason.
"I don't think City go this far into the race as well having no idea of the potential transfer outlay, because it was always going to be a £100m-plus transfer - it's Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, he's a wonderkid.
"I don't buy the money thing if I'm being honest in this instance. I think the money thing with some of them (previous targets) was, but I just don't buy it.
"I think it's very obvious that Florian Wirtz just fancies Liverpool and I get that. I get it logically. Liverpool are a very attractive club, as much as I'd like to pretend as a City fan that City's appeal is bigger, for some people it will be, for some people it'd be Liverpool."
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Wirtz blow 'stings' - but 'it's not the be-all and end-all' for Man City
McInerney added: "It's immensely disappointing. I'm never surprised if City lose out on a superstar because traditionally - [Erling] Haaland aside [as] he has a Manchester City link - we've not really been good at nailing down the big, big, big names.
"You think of the pursuit of Jude Bellingham, the pursuit of Declan Rice, we went up for Alexis Sanchez many years ago and he went to Man United instead because they paid more, and now obviously Florian Wirtz.
"It does sting a little bit and it does obviously massively improve Liverpool, it's a cracking signing, but I don't think it's the be-all and end-all of Manchester City's problems."
McInerney believes that Man City can still build a stronger team and rediscover the creative spark that they lacked at times in the 2024-25 campaign through a combination of new arrivals and the return of stars from either injury or a loss of form, including Rodri and Phil Foden respectively.
He said: "I think we have been poor creatively, but I look around and this is not just cope, it really is genuinely the case, I look around at City's issues and I think Rodri's returning - Rodri's one of the biggest creative outlets at Manchester City Football Club.
"As much as defensively and the control is great, he's also really good outside the box. He's brilliant outside the box, so that would massively increase City's creativity.
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Can Foden, Rodri, new signings provide creative boost at Man City?
"I can only presume Phil Foden will be much better next season. There's a boost in creativity. We're linked to Tijjani Reijnders, he's a cracking footballer, a graceful elegant number eight who's got incredible vision, an eye for goal as well. Reijnders, Rodri, a return to form for Foden and that more than fixes the whole City have creatively."
"Wirtz would be great, but I don't think we need him personally," McInerney added. "I think we need a combination of factors, players who can add more going forward.
"I think it's fair to say if Rodri returns, Reijnders comes in, Foden returns, it's a massive boost creatively. Oscar Bobb, who I really rate, he starts to adapt a little bit. Who knows, [Claudio] Echeverri's starting to break through a little bit now at Manchester City. Maybe he gets a chance after hopefully impressing at the Club World Cup.
"All this is not to say that Wirtz wouldn't have been an incredible signing, but I don't think City are going to live or die by that signing. I think City can plug it in different ways. Morgan Gibbs-White, for example, is an incredibly aggressive midfielder, gets forward, he is two-footed, a really good passer.
"There are many different ways to break a team down and I think City have potential options, with other potential signings and returning players that as much as this would have been a great signing, it's not going to make or break City's season."
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
Oliver Thomas
