Arsenal are the latest club to register their interest in Bayer Leverkusen forward Florian Wirtz, according to Sport Bild (via Sport Witness).

The German magazine claims that the Gunners have been tracking the 21-year-old for several years and there is a good chance that they will join rivals in the race for his signature next summer.

Wirtz has ambitions of winning the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or and he may only achieve those aims if he leaves Leverkusen for another team.

It is believed Arsenal, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are all keeping close tabs on the German international.

Leverkusen won’t let Wirtz leave on the cheap

Sport Bild report that the Bundesliga champions are reluctant to sell one of their key players and that means they will hold out for a very high sum before sanctioning a transfer.

A fee of around €150m (£125.5m) has been suggested. That figure would smash Arsenal’s current transfer record, which stands at £105m following Declan Rice’s move from West Ham last year.

The Arsenal target has received the ultimate compliment from his manager

Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso compared Wirtz to Lionel Messi not long after being appointed the club’s head coach at the start of 2023. Speaking about the German playmaker, he said:

“There are good players and there are players who look good on the pitch. The player who looks good does things that are nice, but not necessarily efficient.”

“Why is Messi so good? Because he knows how and when to play simple passes. Messi says: ‘You’re in a better position? Here, there you have the ball!’ It’s not always about making the most brilliant move, but the best and smartest. Florian can do that. That’s why he’s so good.”

Of course, there is a long way to go before Wirtz can really be mentioned in the same breath as Messi in terms of his achievements in the game, but he seems to be an ambitious player nonetheless.