On Thursday, RB Leipzig announced that they officially signed Christopher Nkunku to an extension, and while that made the rounds among Real Madrid fans due to the links to the 20-goal forward, the reality is that the Nkunku extension was fully expected.
In fact, the Nkunku extension helps Madrid, because the deal was done to facilitate an easier 2023 transfer. Nkunku wants a new challenge, but he is too important to Leipzig, as we saw this past season when he carried them to a top-four finish and their first-ever trophy, the DFB Pokal.
He can now leave in 2023 for 60 million euros, which means if Real Madrid want him, they have a fighting chance at signing him.
But another Bundesliga superstar on the Real Madrid transfer radar signed an extension yesterday, too. It’s just that his move was not covered as much, lost in the shuffle of the Bundesliga Player of the Year signing a new deal.
Bayer Leverkusen have signed Florian Wirtz to an extension
Bayer Leverkusen officially extended Florian Wirtz through the 2026/27 season, putting another year on his contract and thus keeping his transfer value extremely high.
Leverkusen have two gems who could interest Real Madrid in Wirtz and winger Moussa Diaby. But they know how good these two young stars are and will drive a hard bargain for both. Wirtz could cost a ton of money, even coming off an ACL tear.
Therefore, Real are expected to focus on Jude Bellingham and Nkunku instead. They won’t be cheap, but they could still be cheaper than Wirtz, whose transfer fee has usually hovered around 100 million euros in rumors.
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Would anyone pay that? I don’t know. But I do know that Real Madrid would not pay that much. So Wirtz signing an extension can only make him more expensive to the Merengue club, who are not exactly desperate to sign a playmaker. They have Takefusa Kubo and Reinier Jesus on their books, and they could just as easily sign someone else in 2023 for cheaper.