'Hasan Salihamidzic and Hansi Flick had an argument about it' - Lothar Matthaus reveals how Bayern Munich missed out on signing Florian Wirtz

Bayern Munich legend Matthaus has revealed intriguing details regarding the disagreement between former Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic and former coach Hansi Flick over the signing of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen in 2021. Flick managed Bayern Munich from November 2019 to July 2021, helping the club achieve a historic treble in the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season. However, he left the club unceremoniously in 2021 after reports of a fall-out with Salihamidzic.

After the unprecedented highs of the 2019-20 season, Flick wanted to reinforce the Bayern squad, with discussions taking place between the end of 2020 and start of 2021 with then sporting director Salihamidzic. In fact, in as early as January 2020, the German coach spoke to SZ about wanting new signings: "We definitely need reinforcements. I'm thinking of at least two players."

One of the players Flick was desperate to bring to the Allianz Arena was Wirtz, who was just 17 at the time and had made his debut at the end of the 2019-20 season. However, according to details revealed by Matthaus, the Bayern higher-ups weren't on the same page as Flick.

Speaking to Sky Sports Germany, Matthaus said: “Why did the argument with Hasan Salihamidzic happen? Florian Wirtz was a point of argument and discussion between Hansi Flick and Bayern Munich. He would have been available. But at Bayern Munich, they didn’t want him and Hansi Flick wanted him. Apparently, Hasan did not want him."

While Wirtz could have already been a Bayern Munich player had things panned out differently, the 21-year-old has come a long way in the past few years. He is one of the regulars in the Germany national team and helped Bayer Leverkusen win the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal last season.

There's a lot of speculation regarding his future at the club, though, with Manchester City, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich all plotting a move to sign the dynamic attacking midfielder in the summer of 2025.