Despite interest from some of Europe’s best teams, Bayer Leverkusen is reportedly hoping to keep Florian Wirtz for another season.

 

According to Sky Sport, the Bundesliga club has already accepted the fact that the attacking midfielder will be leaving the club soon. Nevertheless, Leverkusen is holding out hope that the 20-year-old will extend his stay until the summer of 2025, the very least, because his contract in Germany extends until 2027.

With interest from clubs like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Manchester United, the German team may have a tough time keeping Wirtz on the team for the time being. Wirtz has not yet committed to a club, but according to Sky, he would want to play for the German powerhouses before venturing overseas.

Leverkusen is now atop the Bundesliga, and Wirtz, who transferred from Koln to the club in 2020, has been an integral part of that success, contributing to six goals and ten assists in just 18 games. With 34 points after 12 matches in the German Bundesliga, Xabi Alonso’s squad is already two points ahead of Bayern Munich, the defending champions.

Once the Germany international decides to leave Leverkusen, he will have plenty of time to think about his future. While that’s happening, his team has a Europa League match against Hacken scheduled for Thursday.

9 tackles, 92% passing: Joao Neves is the player Liverpool crave

Joao Neves’s future at Liverpool is reportedly still up in the air. The newest news source to report this is O Jogo; in response, Benfica intend to increase his clause to approximately £130 million.

Incredibly, Neves has risen to prominence in 2023. After Enzo Fernandez, another player at Benfica who had become famous quickly, left, he stepped up to the plate.

Nobody is talking about Enzo anymore as the 19-year-old Neves has established himself as a starter for his club. Considering the Argentine’s January price, the adolescent may very well fetch a higher sum.

It’s safe to sаy he’s making people think that. Earlier in November, Neves had a spectacular game against Sporting, setting up the game-winning equalizer in the 94th minute.

On the other hand, he might have proven to Inter on Wednesday night in the Champions League that he is the player that Liverpool is currently seeking.

Anyone can see that Liverpool is looking to add a defensive midfielder to their roster; all they need is the perfect player. Neither Aurélien Tchouaméni nor Moisés Caicedo were successful. Neves comes along just in time to demonstrate why he could be the best long-term choice.

A word of caution beforehand: this was not Inter’s first team. Even though Simeone Inzaghi benched a number of players, Benfica nevertheless managed to pull back from a 3-0 deficit and earn a 3-3 draw.

Amidst all that chaos, Neves demonstrated his unique qualities.

His nine tackles are the main point here. With that amount, Benfica were able to score twenty goals, which is an absurdly high total for any player. Team Inter managed fourteen goals. The only other players to win more than two games were Inter’s, and nobody else on the field won more than four.

The fact that Neves won 90% of his 10 attempts that night is even more astounding.

However, when it came to dribbles, the teen was also unrivaled. On three separate times, he managed to sneak the ball past defenders. Except for two people, no one else repeated that.

And you are free to proceed. Even though Neves completed 56 passes throughout the night, this was Benfica’s highest total. With a 92% success rate, the child outperformed his teammates, who failed to come within 10 yards of him.

Overall, Neves proved that he is a formidable defensive midfielder. He was a master passer, won a plethora of tackles, and even managed to get the ball past defenders in midfield.

Superb, especially considering you’re just 19 years old and playing in the Champions League against Inter’s second team. Even though the transfer fee is astronomical, it’s hard to imagine that Liverpool could locate another youthful midfielder that meets all of their requirements at this level.

Everyone should be prepared for the Reds to be involved in any upcoming transfer race.