From Germany: Manchester City issued with Florian Wirtz transfer decision – Real Madrid and Bayern Munich also informed | OneFootball

Reports from Germany are now reporting on a decision having supposedly been made by in-demand Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz.

The 22-year-old is believed to be Manchester City’s priority transfer target for the attacking midfield role set to be vacated by Kevin De Bruyne this summer, as the Belgian brings an end to a remarkable 10-year stay in Sky Blue.

The long-standing Manchester City playmaker and current club captain is believed to have held talks with Etihad Stadium officials over his future, in which the likes of Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano confirmed their intentions.

With the club looking to oversee a large-scale rebuild of Pep Guardiola’s playing squad this summer following a troublesome campaign, the freeing up of salaries may be required in order to reinvest at the level being targeted by incoming sporting director, Hugo Viana.

And while Manchester City no doubt already have their priority targets in multiple positions, it is now being claimed in Germany that the four-in-a-row Premier League champions have received bad news in relation to their number one choice for the central playmaking role.

That is according to the information of German newspaper BILD, who report that Florian Wirtz has now informed Bayer Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso that he does not want to move to either Real Madrid or Manchester City, and instead only wants a move to Bayern Munich.

It is further claimed that bosses at Bayer Leverkusen are said to be ‘unaware’ of the Germany international’s decision as of now, while neither they nor Bayern Munich wanted to comment on the matter when contacted by the newspaper.

Manchester City are believed to be willing to invest a significant chunk of their summer transfer budget on the standout German attacker, such is the necessity to replace Kevin De Bruyne with the very best option.

However, there is also transfer interest in a name much closer to home, with Etihad Stadium officials expected to step up their efforts to recruit Nottingham Forest and England international Morgan Gibbs-White.

The City Ground star is also expected to command a top-level price tag, with a report in the opening fortnight of April suggesting that Forest bosses would be eyeing a £100 million price tag for their standout player.

There is currently no indication at present as to how much Manchester City would be willing to invest in Gibbs-White, while some believe there would be no issue in the player and the club agreeing on personal terms.