Max Eberl has again spoken out after Bayern Munich signed Luis Diaz from Liverpool after missing out on Florian Wirtz
Luis Diaz and Florian Wirtz.(Image: Getty Images)
Bayern Munich director of sport Max Eberl has admitted that the Bavarians would have been unable to sign Luis Diaz if Florian Wirtz had not rejected their advances. The Bundesliga giants had appeared to be the favourites to sign the Germany international.
However, the 22-year-old ended up rejecting Bayern following a successful pitch from Liverpool, and signed in a deal worth up to £116m from Bayer Leverkusen instead.
Bayern would later switch their attention to Diaz, landing the wantaway Colombian from the Reds in a deal worth up to £65.5m. The forward had made it clear that he would like to leave Liverpool after failing to agree an improved contract with the Premier League champions.
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Diaz has enjoyed an astonishing first half-season with Bayern, returning 14 goals and 11 assists from his first 25 appearances for the club.
Meanwhile, he has only failed to win once during his time with the Bavarians, who currently sit 11 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table and are second in the Champions League league phase.
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In contrast, Wirtz has returned four goals and five assists from 28 appearances for the Reds, having found form in recent weeks. But despite the German’s best efforts, Liverpool have floundered.
Why the Reds are unbeaten in their last 12 matches, they have drawn their last four Premier League games. Meanwhile, they suffered nine defeats in a 12-game run back in the Autumn, which left their Premier League title defence in tatters.
While Eberl has been delighted with Diaz’s form since his move to Bayern, he denied that he was happy that Wirtz’s rejection has opened the door to the German giants signing the forward from Liverpool instead.
“Honestly, that’s not true, because we would also have been very happy if Florian Wirtz had chosen to sign for Bayern,” he insisted to Bild, as quoted by Liverpool World. “He didn’t do it and preferred the Premier League instead.
“But we are very, very happy that we made another very good decision by signing Lucho.
“The two of them together wouldn’t have been possible. As I said, we’re not exactly… printing money either.”
