Wirtz came on as a substitute in the 77th minute of Liverpool's 2-0 win over Villa at Anfield on Saturday night, as he failed to pick up a goal contribution once more under head coach Arne Slot.
The German international signed for the side in the summer for a whopping £116M from Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen. Slot beat the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid to bring in the playmaker, who ha struggled to adapt to the English top flight so far.
Now, Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro has spoken about Wirtz and how he may have chosen differently if called up by former head coach Xabi Alonso, who was said to want to bring him with him to La Liga.
“The Wirtz family and Florian knew that extending his contract was our top priority. We were very cautious with salaries during the summer transfers. But we would have been prepared to make an exception for Florian. We were prepared to push the boundaries and give everything to extend his contract.
“And for a while, it looked like it might work out. In the end, Florian decided for himself what he wanted to do. The parents are his advisors, and I think it’s good that they fully respect Florian’s wishes.
“He would definitely have gone to Madrid if Xabi had made the offer. But Xabi has less say at Madrid than he does with us. One of Alonso’s greatest strengths was his ability to work with our scouting department to define who needed to be in our team. Florentino Perez decides the transfers, not Xabi Alonso.”
Interestingly, Liverpool and Real Madrid face off in the Champions League this week. Wirtz will face Alonso whilst Trent Alexander-Arnold returns to Anfield in what is shaping up to be one of the biggest clashes of the season.