Liverpool are leading the race to sign Florian Wirtz ahead of Bayern Munich.

Bayern Munich CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen has insisted that the club can still attract top players after conceding defeat to Liverpool in the Florian Wirtz transfer race.

Wirtz had been expected to join the Bundesliga champions from Bayer Leverkusen this summer. The playmaker is regarded as one of Europe’s best young talents, having plundered 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 outings for Die Werkself. Last season, he was instrumental as Leverkusen won their maiden German title without losing a game along with the DFB-Pokal.

However, Liverpool surprisingly entered the race to sign Wirtz - and appear to have leapfrogged Bayern and Manchester City. The Reds are now frontrunners, with Wirtz reportedly wanting to join the Premier League conquerors having held talks with Anfield head coach Arne Slot.

Dreesen has seemingly admitted Bayern have lost the battle for Wirtz’s signature amid suggestions that Liverpool have made a bid of around £84 million plus add-ons.

What’s been said

Via Munich-based newspaper tz, Dreesen said: “FC Bayern is one of the absolute top clubs in Europe and the world; our appeal among the fans, but also among the players, is enormous. It's simply part of our culture that not everyone ends up with us. It's the same for other top clubs – and it doesn't change the fact that everyone knows; with FC Bayern, you can win everything every year, you're involved in every competition – the upcoming Club World Cup is a good example of this."

Bayern compete in the expanded Club World Cup next month alongside the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. Dressen appeared to fire a subtle dig at Liverpool as they are not among the outfits that are participating in the competition.

He added: "The best European clubs are competing there – including FC Bayern. Just look at which clubs are represented – and, above all, which aren't. Much more has been written than spoken. All top players worldwide are aware of our appeal, sporting ambitions and economic power."

Liverpool transfer plans

Liverpool are expected to make several additions in the summer transfer window as they aim to defend the Premier League title next season. Wirtz could be part of a double Leverkusen swoop, with Jeremie Frimpong closing in on a £30 million switch to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold.

AFC Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerez is also on the radar as a potential long-term successor for Andy Robertson.

Speaking after last Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace on the final day of the 2024-25 season, Slot revealed he will ideally have signings in place before Liverpool return for pre-season training on 8 July. The Reds supremo said: “We just want good players and ideally you sign them as soon as you can. But it's not always easy to sign good players, let alone to sign them early in the window. But this club doesn't start working from today onwards.

“There is so much hard work being done behind the scenes already this season to find out which targets we have and try to sign them. I have all the confidence that if we've addressed the right player that we try to sign that player. But let's see when that's going to happen and if that's going to happen because I'm very happy with the squad we already have.”