Chelsea’s Premier League rivals Manchester City have cooled their interest in Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz.
City were keen on Wirtz, but it is thought that the total financial package to sign the attacking midfielder has put them off.
Chelsea have been linked with Wirtz in the past, but they are not said to be in the running for him at the moment.
This is not the first time City have pulled out of a deal for a player because of the finances involved. They did the same thing three years ago, much to the benefit of Chelsea.
Chelsea now have one of the best left-backs in the world in Marc Cucurella
In the summer of 2022, City wanted to sign Marc Cucurella from Brighton & Hove Albion. However, as with Wirtz, they were not keen to pay the kind of money that was needed to land the defender.
According to The Athletic, the former Premier League champions had worked for “months” to bring Cucurella to the Etihad. But with Brighton demanding £50m, they eventually decided to walk away from a deal.
Chelsea would go on to pay even more than that after Brighton raised his price tag to £62m, but he has been worth every penny this season.
Right now, going forward, there may not be a better left-back in the Premier League. Enzo Maresca has transformed Cucurella, who is providing such a threat in attack for Chelsea.
He has scored five goals in the top flight, including the winner against Manchester United last Friday. Defensively, Cucurella has not disappointed either.
As per WhoScored, the Spaniard is making 1.8 tackles per game, which is the third-highest average in Chelsea’s squad.
All of this has come after Cucurella helped Spain to win Euro 2024, with the former Brighton man setting up Mikel Oyarzabal’s decisive goal in the final. Performing at such a high level for club and country, there is no doubt that Cucurella is now one of the best full-backs in the world.
Manchester City cooling interest in Florian Wirtz good news for Chelsea
Unlike Cucurella, Wirtz is not going to end up at Chelsea following City’s decision to end their interest in him. Bayern Munich now look like the most likely destination for the Germany international.
If you are Maresca, you just have to be happy that Wirtz is not joining Pep Guardiola’s side.
Currently, there is no gap between Chelsea and City, which is an amazing thing to say given where both clubs were last season. Signing Wirtz, however, could have changed that.
The 22-year-old is a terrific attacking player, coming up with 22 goal contributions in 31 Bundesliga appearances this term. Simply put, he is not the kind of footballer Chelsea will want to see at another Premier League club.
