Liverpool's Commitment to Florian Wirtz Amid Bayern Munich Speculation

Liverpool have no intention of cashing in on Florian Wirtz or sending him back to Germany, despite growing noise around a possible move to Bayern Munich.

The £116m signing from Bayer Leverkusen arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2025 as one of the headline acts in a £400m recruitment drive that followed Liverpool’s Premier League title win. He came as the jewel of Leverkusen’s 2024/25 Bundesliga‑winning side, a player expected to slide straight into elite status in England.

It hasn’t gone that way. Not yet.

Wirtz has shown flashes – enough to remind everyone why Liverpool fought so hard, and paid so much, to get him – but he has not consistently hit the level that made him the Bundesliga’s standout. The pressure has started to build.

Paul Merson has already gone public with his doubts. Speaking on Sky Sports, he argued that Wirtz at Liverpool “just isn’t working” and openly questioned how long the club can afford to wait for the German playmaker to fully ignite. Merson stressed he remains a “big fan” and called Wirtz “a special player”, but his bottom line was blunt: “It isn’t working; it just isn’t working.”

That kind of verdict, combined with a slow-burning debut spell in England, has fuelled speculation that Bayern could move in and offer Wirtz a route back to the Bundesliga.

Inside Liverpool, the picture looks very different.

Football Insider journalist Pete O’Rourke insists the club are still backing their investment and their player. “They’re still relying on him,” he said, adding there are “no plans on Liverpool’s end to offload Florian Wirtz anytime soon” and that the Reds are not ready to “write him off just yet”.

O’Rourke pointed to Wirtz’s display in the Champions League win over Atletico Madrid earlier this month as evidence of what he can bring when things click. The onus now, he suggested, is on head coach Andoni Iraola to nail down the German’s best role and unlock him on a regular basis.

From Germany, the message is just as firm on the Bayern side.

Sport Bild journalist Christian Falk has dismissed talk of an imminent Bayern move as inaccurate. Speaking on CF Bayern Insider, Falk stated it is “NOT TRUE” that Bayern are currently tracking Wirtz with a view to a shock swoop, stressing his information is that such claims are simply wrong.

That doesn’t mean there is no history. Far from it.

Falk revealed Bayern held two secret meetings with Wirtz before his Liverpool switch – one in Munich, one in Liverpool – only for Arne Slot to win the race and persuade the Germany international to choose Merseyside. That past interest, combined with scrutiny over Wirtz’s form in England, keeps the rumour mill turning.

Falk, though, does not share all the doubts. He argued Wirtz is actually performing better than last season and highlighted that he is operating in a new position under Iraola. At the same time, Bayern have their own internal storyline to manage with Jamal Musiala, who has not been at his sharpest after illness and last year’s injury issues.

That’s where the next layer of speculation creeps in: the idea of a future swap or chain of deals involving Wirtz and Michael Olise.

Falk did not completely close the door on a scenario in which Wirtz could one day become part of Bayern’s attacking rebuild. He suggested that, if Wirtz were ever to seek a return to the Bundesliga, Bayern would naturally be at the front of the queue. But he underlined that “there is nothing planned” right now.

Bayern, he pointed out, already have a large squad and plenty of attacking options. Musiala is tied down on a long contract. Vincent Kompany is experimenting with a new system that places Olise at the heart of the team, in the central role he also occupies for France. On top of that, Liverpool’s outlay on Wirtz remains a major barrier to any casual enquiry.

Still, the hypotheticals refuse to go away. Falk acknowledged that, if Olise does not sign a new deal and pushes for a move, Bayern would inevitably look at high-end replacements. In that context, Wirtz would be “interesting” – a player who can operate wide or centrally and fit different systems.

One route floated is a direct swap with Liverpool involving Wirtz and Olise. Another is Bayern selling Olise for a big fee, potentially to Real Madrid, and then using that money to go after Wirtz. Falk stressed that “many, many positions” would have to be discussed before anything like that could happen and stopped short of saying Bayern have never considered such a concept.

For now, it leaves Wirtz in a curious place: under scrutiny, under pressure, but still central to Liverpool’s plans and, officially at least, not on Bayern’s agenda.

Liverpool paid a huge fee to make him one of the faces of their next era. The club’s stance is clear: his story at Anfield is nowhere near finished. The only question is how quickly he can turn flashes of brilliance into the kind of dominance that makes all this noise fade into the background.