Could Manchester City’s rebuild begin with a young German talent? | OneFootball

The 2024/25 Premier League campaign has turned into a tough one for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola.

And although a number of fans will have ideas as to why form has fallen off a cliff this year – and how much recent transfer strategy and injuries have contributed – the simple fact is we are out of the title race, the Champions League, and set for a huge summer rebuild.

How much of a rebuild Pep Guardiola can do with a squad full of ageing key players is open to debate, and could well hinge on the endless Financial Fair Play issues bubbling along in the background.

But the club needs to look to the future and begin finding the next Kevin De Bruyne, the next Ilkay Gundogan and so on, and that naturally means that as the summer nears the speculation rumour mill is going to have Manchester City linked with some very tasty players.

One of the latest to appear having moved past January offerings is Bayer Leverkusen talent Florian Wirtz and the Germany international will be an interesting name to follow as fans turn attentions to the summer months and sports like cricket.

And the Indian Premier League (IPL) is likely to be a huge draw again, with 10 teams competing in a fast-paced T20 format. IPL betting is highly dynamic and attracts millions of bettors each season, and the 2024 season – which runs for approximately 60 days – will feature 74 matches across multiple venues in India.

The aforementioned 21 year old attacking midfielder has made quite a name for himself in the German Bundesliga, and with 29 caps for his country, he now boasts well over 100 starting appearances to his name, including both Europa League and Champions League experience.

Whilst he predominantly occupies the attacking midfield role at Bayer Leverkusen, his versatility has seen him feature on both flanks and also as a straight centre forward, and where ever he plays he has an impressive goal and assist ratio.

With 39 games to his name in the 2024/25 campaign, Wirtz has already chipped in with 15 goals and 11 assists and there is likely more to come, and City are being linked with having a very strong interest in his future services, with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid also being given a significant namecheck in reports.

Wirtz’s contract runs until the summer of 2027, but with plenty of interest being shown, it is widely believed Leverkusen will take advantage of a potential bidding war to capitalise on his valuation this summer, particularly as Bayern Munich chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has already gone on record to explain their interest and confirm he is a firm target.

Whilst it is believed the Bundesliga giants are currently in pole position, the player makes so much sense from a City perspective as his record would more than put him in the position of being a potential long term replacement for Kevin De Bruyne while rebuilding key positions.

Fees currently being spoken about are in the ‘around £100 million’ ballpark but it is already being claimed that Manchester City have made their move quietly and entered tentative talks with Bayer Leverkusen over trying to secure a workable deal here.

We shall see if anything comes of this, but on paper Florian Wirtz is exactly the kind of player we should be after in the coming weeks and months.