'That was rubbish' - Florian Wirtz had perfect response as Bayern make bizarre Liverpool accusation
- mrwedwards
- 42 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Florian Wirtz issued a rather emphatic response when it was suggested he was demanding the number 10 shirt ahead of his move to Liverpool back in the summer.
The Reds signed the Germany international from Bayer Leverkusen in a deal worth up to £116m.
Initially handed the number 58 shirt on a temporary basis during pre-season, he later inherited the number seven jersey following Luis Diaz’s move to Bayern Munich.
All those of a Liverpool persuasion will be well aware the club’s number seven shirt is their most illustrious of all. But that has not stopped the non-award of the number 10 jersey from remaining a talking point in Germany.
When it was first reported that Wirtz was demanding the number 10 shirt despite it already being in the possession of Alexis Mac Allister, Wirtz took to Instagram to rubbish such claims.
Wirtz
"Who says I want the [ten emoji] I respect players,”
"Don't believe everything what's written [clown emoji]."
Wirtz and Mac Allister would then both take part in an advert for the Google Pixel 10 phone, offering a tongue-in-cheek response to such claims when promoting one of Liverpool’s sponsors back in August.
“I know there’s been some rumours about Flo wanting the number 10,” Mac Allister said into a Google Pixel 10 phone before walking up to Wirtz at the AXA Training Centre.
“But I want to tell you all the truth.
“Flo! This is the number 10 you wanted, right? Google Pixel 10.”
“Thank you, Macca. Nice one!” the German replied after being handed the phone, before the pair then posed for a selfie.
But four months on and supposed discontent about the number 10 shirt has reared its head once more. And this time, the big-wigs at Bayern Munich are responsible, having seen Wirtz spurn their advances to join Liverpool in the first place.
Earlier this month, Bavarians honorary president Uli Hoeness claimed that Arne Slothad actually broken a promise to Wirtz by not awarding him the number 10 shirt, seemingly suggesting that it had played a decisive factor in his decision to reject the Bundesliga giants.
Hoeness
“Slot promised Wirtz something that he’s now clearly not keeping,”
“Building the new team around him with the number 10 shirt. That was rubbish.
“He got the number seven shirt and the new team is clearly not playing around Florian Wirtz.
“I feel terribly sorry for Florian Wirtz. Everything went through him in Leverkusen. In Liverpool, he gets five passes in a half and if he loses the ball twice, he gets a bad rating.”
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich’s director of sport, Max Eberl, has now again spoken about Wirtz’s decision to reject the Bavarians after it was put to him that the player ad wanted the number 10 shirt at the Allianz Arena despite it being promised to Jamal Musiala.
Eberl
“Shirt numbers are an important topic for players,”
“We were completely transparent about that (Musiala getting the Bayern number 10 shirt) as well.
“We made it clear in all our discussions that we would have loved to have him at FC Bayern and that he would have been a great fit for us.
“Florian then chose Liverpool. I wish him all the best in representing German football in the Premier League.”
Oh, poor Bayern. Liverpool clearly offered Wirtz the one thing they could not with the promise of the number 10 shirt, only to renege on such an agreement after he had already signed! No wonder they are so bitter about missing out on his signature.
Well, perhaps not.
“While it is now six months since Wirtz rejected their advances in favour of joining the Reds, comments from the Bayern camp about Liverpool and the playmaker have continued, with it clear that his decision has proven to be a bitter pill for them to swallow.
While Wirtz might have endured a slow start at Anfield, he has been impressive for the Reds in recent weeks following his return from injury after the November international break.
Speaking after Liverpool’s win over Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend, Slot praised the playmaker as he shared his belief that he is going from strength to strength.
“The way he [Wirtz] handles the ball, how comfortable he is with that,”
“I think he is also one of the players I mean when I say he is getting better and better.
“He was already very good when we signed him but he’s getting better and better.
“He’s getting stronger and stronger, running people off the ball, all the hard work the players have put in in the last few months is paying off more and more if you look at individual performances.”
Such displays will likely only irk Bayern even more, giving them less to cling to when trying to convince themselves that Wirtz made the wrong decision in moving to Merseyside over Munich.
But pointing to the award/non-award/supposed retraction of the number 10 shirt, completely overlooking Wirtz’s public summer stance in the process, when trying to explain his decision to reject the Bavarians really is the most bizarre outburst yet.
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