Liverpool’s pursuit of Florian Wirtz has taken a significant step forward after the club approached Bayer Leverkusen, the PA news agency understands.

The club have held an interest in the 22-year-old playmaker for some time and his anticipated exit from the deposed Bundesliga champions was expected to spark a scramble for his signature.

Manchester City and Bayern Munich were also said to be in the running for one of the major stars in Germany but it was reported the Premier League club cooled their interest due to the rising cost of the deal, while Leverkusen are reluctant to sell to one of their domestic rivals.

Liverpool now appear to have moved to the front of the queue for the £125million-rated forward after opening talks with the German club.

That has undoubtedly been helped by the fact they had already been in contact with Leverkusen regarding Jeremie Frimpong, triggering the right-sided utility player’s £30m release clause and holding a medical this week.