Florian Wirtz transfer posturing justifies Man City's £125million decision as Liverpool made to wait

In the end Manchester City couldn't be doing with the fee and the faff.

Florian Wirtz is one of the most sought-after players in world football right now and City could have been front and centre in the battle to sign the Germany international had they followed through initial interest.

But they rowed back and that decision allowed Liverpool to make a move and the Germany international is now closing in on an Anfield switch.

And while a deal is expected to be completed there remains work to do with Liverpool and Leverkusen locked in talks over a fee. Arne Slot's side had a club-record £109million offer rejected last week with the Bundesliga side seeking a fee closer to £125million.

Liverpool want to avoid a drawn-out process but that seems somewhat inevitable as Leverkusen seek to eek out every pound they can for their star player. The German outfit have already lost Jeremie Frimpong to Liverpool after they met his £29million release fee.

And with Leverkusen keen on a fee that would be a British record and parachute Wirtz into the top five of the most expensive footballers of all time, money and patience will be required to secure his services.

City could have stayed in the hunt for Wirtz but felt the pricetag was too steep while becoming embroiled in a battle with Liverpool and perhaps Bayern Munich would have been counter-productive. City have a longstanding history of walking away from top transfer targets if they do not feel like the proposed deals represent value for money

So the Blues cooled their interest and instead will switch their attentions to alternative targets as they seek to complete the bulk of their business before the Club World Cup starts.

That leaves them with seven days to pursue targets,