Florian Wirtz (AM) Bayer Leverkusen

Agreed. Not questioning Wirtz’s talent and creativity but the price is ridiculous.

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I thought he meant Jonathon Wilson, author of inverting the pyramid and angels with dirty faces, editor of the blizzard and writes for the Guardian. He’s also from the North East and is a Sunderland suppirter i think. Used to be regular on the football weekly podcast.

Youve read that one tweet?

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Last Friday it all seemed to kick off about Wirtz - I remember as I was in pub waiting for a mate when this thread lit up.
Its all gone a bit quiet the last 7 days. Can only assume no news is good news.

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With German NT training session starting tomorrow at Herzogenaurach, I wonder if Wirtz doing part of his Medical at training camp will be an option. We’ve seen that kind of things before.

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Was it smtm you were meeting?

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Let’s explore this thought experiment, with the following premises taken to be true:

  • The majority of the transfer “rumours” floating around are true;
  • The club’s recruitment department have more data than we do
  • The above data is generally reliable.

I might suggest that if that’s the case, then we’ve settled the left-back issue, with Kerkez looking likely to sign.

We haven’t shown any interest in any centre-backs, as far as I’m aware. However, we do already have 4 more than competent centre-backs, and we also have a player in Endō who’s actually played the majority of his professional career (in terms of games played, at least) at centre-back.

Might I suggest that the plan may be to have Bajčetić involved in some way, as well as having Mac Allister and/or Jones as alternatives to Gravenberch? That we might see another evolution of how we play, especially in midfield, with the people we sign?

https://x.com/ptgorst/status/1928335252008685913

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Checks source.

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Mods - immediate ban required for the mental and emotional damage done by making me think about Roy Hodgson! :joy:

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Google translated: “According to information from BILD, the offer should include the following numbers: 100 million fixed revenue-pound, not euros. In addition, ten to twelve million pounds -dependent bonuses. 110 to £ 112 million is 130.5 to 133 million euros.”

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Isn’t Bild a Bayern mouthpiece?

Therefore, are they just putting this out so their fans think either “fuck that’s mega money, and our club can’t compete” or so their fans don’t realise that Kompany’s 1 hr powerpoint presentation fucked their chances with Wirtz.

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Past season would suggest that Slot doesn’t see Mac Allister/Jones as actual alternatives to Gravenberch and I’d wager that Bajcetic falls into that category as well.

The centre-backs are somewhat of a conundrum. I like all of them, but Gomez has spent a lot of time on the sidelines again and apparently, we’re not averse to selling Quansah. Konate seems nowhere near to signing an extension and Van Dijk isn’t getting any younger. We may not be looking at centre-backs but acquiring one should be a priority for me. We also need to be looking at a long-term replacement for Van Dijk.

Kerkez has been heavily rumoured but I don’t know if a reputable source has actually reported that we are in negotiations for him.

A new No.9 isn’t a must but there has to be some kind of production from the position; we can’t expect Salah to break all kind of records again.

I don’t know where Wirtz fits in with all the above and obviously the club knows far more than us, but in my eyes a new AM seems like the least of our concerns going into the new season. Especially at this price.

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Based on what? :thinking:

Best to see if and/or how Bajcetic is deployed in preseason first.

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Slot has spoken about Mac being more than capable of doing it, but them both agreeing that he was best used for us in a role with more freedom to get forward. Adding someone like Wirtz into our midfield (assuming that is the plan for his role) maybe changes that balance. It’s unlikely to do so to the degree that he and Gravy have to battle for the role, but it makes it more viable to drop him into the role as needed without losing so much further forward

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https://x.com/David_Ornstein/status/1928426306338795817

It’s probably already done and perfectly timed

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Ornstein bomba! This is happening folks!

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Romano is on it also

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