Youth, talent, and contract status are usually the two biggest factors in determine a player's transfer value. When it comes to Florian Wirtz, Bayer Leverkusen are seeing dollar signs on all three.
The 21-year-old superstar is expected to be one of the hottest players on the market, having put together an exemplary 2023/24 campaign to lead Bayer 04 to their first-ever German domestic double before following that up with an exceptional showing at Euro 2024.
With six goals and one assist already in the new season in seven matches across all competitions, including a brace in the club's Champions League debut, his perceived market value has skyrocketed to astronomical figures.
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Reports have varied on what Bayer Leverkusen could be asking for Wirtz, but they are all in the nine figures.
Back in June, Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro himself publicly stated that the asking price for Wirtz was around €150 million, and according to German publication Bild, that valuation remains in place.
However, not everyone agrees. According to Maximilian Koch, Bayern Munich beat writer for German publication Abendzeitung, the figure may now be lowered to somewhere around €100 million ($111m / £83m). While no reason was given for the drop, it could be that Wirtz would be just two years from the 2027 expiration of his current Bayer Leverkusen contract once this season concludes.
Meanwhile, a number of Spanish tabloids like Relevo have quoted a figure somewhere in the middle, around €120 million ($133m / £100m).
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While Bayern Munich are the obvious suitor for Wirtz, as a club that has paid significant transfer fees in the recent past (they shelled out a combined €249 million over the past two summer windows on just four players — Kim Min-Jae, Michael Olise, Joao Palhinha, and their record transfer holder Harry Kane), they are not the only side interested.
Real Madrid have long been linked to a move for Wirtz, even dating back to last summer, but the pursuit of Kylian Mbappe always took precedent. Bild has linked Arsenal to a move for Wirtz, although it wouldn't quite make sense for the Gunners to add yet another world class No. 10 with the likes of Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz already on board and the No. 9 position still lacking.
So for Real Madrid, the competition may not be with many other suitors, but instead in the form of Bayer Leverkusen and the financial negotiations.
Los Blancos have not been shy to shell out huge sums of money when deemed necessary, but they have recently looked for more creative ways of doing business. For example, their acquisition of Kylian Mbappe was the opposite of cheap, but came in the form of a free transfer, able to negotiate directly with the player in the absence of a fee, while they snatched Jude Bellingham two years ago for below market value thanks to the presence of a release clause in his Borussia Dortmund contract.
With Madrid preferring to flex their financial might on the wage end of negotiations rather than in the transfer market, will they be priced out of a move for Wirtz? And should they indeed pounce successfully, how would that leave the makeup of the squad with Bellingham currently excelling in a hybrid No. 10 role?
Lastly, with so many enormous contracts already on the books — four players at the club are currently making over €400,000 ($445k / £334k) a week, according to Capology — could Real Madrid manage to fit another big acquisition on the wage bill or will La Liga's strict regulations put a ceiling on their potential offer?
There are plenty of questions for Florentino Perez and Carlo Ancelotti to sift through before making such a high-profile and financially breathtaking move.
