Florian Wirtz's agent still 'wishing' for Real Madrid transfer as he reveals plea to Florentino Perez before midfielder's Liverpool switch

Wirtz was part of a big-spending summer at Anfield as the Reds splashed out to strengthen their squad. The Germany star arrived after shining in Alonso's team at Bayer Leverkusen and joined the Reds along with other big names including Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez. Despite the lavish investment in the squad, Arne Slot's side have endured a dismal defence of their Premier League title and currently sit in sixth place in the table, 16 points behind leaders Arsenal. Wirtz struggled to make an impression in the early months of the campaign after his move, while Isak also failed to live up to his lofty price tag and has since been sidelined with a serious injury that required surgery.

Wirtz's agent Volker Struth has now revealed that the 22-year-old could have joined Real Madrid rather than Liverpool. 

He told Bild: "During the period when a move to Liverpool or Bayern was being discussed, I called Xabi Alonso and told him: 'You have to take the lad from Leverkusen with you to Real'. Xabi replied: 'You don’t have to tell me that, you have to tell Florentino Perez (Real Madrid's president).'

"So I actually sent him a message: 'Dear Florentino, I’ve told you many times before: I have a player here whom I would highly recommend. Florian Wirtz makes every team in the world better.'"

Struth went on to say that he still hopes Wirtz can go on and secure a move to the Santiago Bernabeu in the future. He told the Phrasenmaher podcast: "That year, it simply wasn’t the right time due to the squad and the budget. Even Real Madrid’s coffers aren’t always overflowing. But my wish remains that Florian will play there one day.

"I wasn't deeply enough involved in the offers that were on the table. My greatest wish, of course, would have been to have Florian at Real Madrid to see – and I don't think I'm alone in that. I also think he would be in very good hands there. He's doing quite well in Liverpool now, he's a very young player and who knows what might happen in his career."

After a slow start, Wirtz has four goals and two assists in his last nine games for Liverpool and has earned praise from his manager.

"First and foremost, credit to the player because he has to do the work," Slot told reporters. "Not only on the pitch but also in the gym. Then as a manager, even if he is struggling a little bit at the start, you have to keep playing him because that is the only way he can improve. He is an example of that.

"I think he didn't improve that much on the ball because from the start he was special maybe now he has a better connection with his teammates because they've played more and more together. Off the ball is where I see the biggest improvement with him, and some others, and that combination makes you ready for the Premier League."

Wirtz missed Liverpool's win over Nottingham Forest last time out after picking up a knock in the warm-up. Slot confirmed after the victory that Wirtz missed out due to a problem with his back, which is not thought to be serious. The hope is that Wirtz could recover in time to feature against West Ham on Saturday at Anfield.