Real Madrid News
Real Madrid, Barcelona keeping tabs on 19-year-old Bundesliga generational talent
With Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich closely monitoring his situation last March for the summer transfer window, Florian Wirtz suffered the worst injury a footballer can see.
Having ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, the youngster faced 265 days on the sidelines, missing close to 32 games for Bayer Leverkusen.
His serious injury made the European three question his ability to come back strong, for it is not uncommon that an ACL tear destroys a player’s career. Yet, the player is now back stronger than ever and is garnering attention again.
According to reports from Fabrizio Romano (h/t Madrid Xtra), Real Madrid are amongst the several clubs still keeping tabs on the young attacking midfielder. Barcelona are also following the player.
While Jude Bellingham is their primary target in the position, the German is seen as a good backup in case the Borrusia Dortmund player’s transfer does not go through.
Barcelona and Bayern Munich are closely monitoring the German’s situation too. The Bavarians already have a protege in the same position in Jamal Musiala, while the Blaugrana’s economic situation does not give them enough room to pull off the deal.
The 19-year-old has a contract running until 2027 with the Bundesliga side, thus placing a possible transfer at the more expensive end of the spectrum.
In just eight games since his return from injury, the teenager has scored two goals and provided four assists. He has given the hope that he will return to his imperial best soon, pushing interested parties, including Los Blancos towards faster negotiations.
The youngster revealed in 2021 that his dream was to play at Barcelona at some stage in his career. It remains to be seen if his Catalan orientation has any role to play in his response to Real Madrid’s approach.
“I always want to be the best. As a kid, I dreamt of playing for Barcelona. That has not changed, but it can wait.”
It hasn’t been a good week for Real Madrid, who look all set to relinquish their Spanish league title to arch-rivals Barcelona come the end of the season, following a narrow defeat to the Blaugrana at the weekend.
However, as Real Madrid enter the international break, there is some positive news for Carlo Ancelotti and his men.
As reported by Toni Juanmarti, Barcelona look set to miss out on their two star players in Ousmane Dembele and Pedri due to injury, ahead of the upcoming second-leg semifinal tie against Real Madrid, in Copa Del Rey.
Real Madrid are heading into this game with a 1-0 defeat in the first-leg, meaning they must beat Barça with a two-goal margin in order to book a place in the final. The absence of both Pedri and Dembele, to that end, could be a major boost for Ancelotti.
Pedri, who was expected to return to full fitness for the second leg, has suffered a relapse. It has set his return back to three or four weeks late, meaning the youngster will not return until the April 23 tie against Atletico Madrid.
The situation is not much different for Ousmane Dembele. The explosive attacker is recovering slower than expected and though he was tipped to return in the league game against Real Madrid this month, he remains a major doubt for this Copa Del Rey tie.
However, Barcelona did register a narrow victory over Los Blancos even without these two individuals, so the task is definitely cut out for Ancelotti and his men as they look to exact revenge against the Catalans in Copa Del Rey next month.
