Wirtz hits back at claim he asked for Mac Allister's No. 10 shirt in Liverpool transfer talks
Associated Press
MUNICH (AP) — Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Florian Wirtz seemingly denied a report that he requested the No. 10 shirt at Liverpool as part of talks over a potentially record-breaking transfer.
In rare public comments from the player whose fee could break the English Premier League record, Wirtz responded to a report from broadcaster Sky Germany on Tuesday that he would like to keep wearing No. 10 if he moves to Liverpool.
That number was worn this season by midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, a World Cup winner with Argentina, and is a storied shirt at Liverpool. Previous players to wear the No. 10 include club greats like John Barnes, Michael Owen, Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane.
'Who says I want the 10," Wirtz wrote on Instagram late Tuesday, "I respect players."
'Don't believe everything what's written,' he added with a clown emoji.
The Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder is reportedly nearing a move to Premier League champion Liverpool after turning down interest from Bayern Munich. Liverpool has already signed his Leverkusen teammate Jeremie Frimpong, a Dutch right back.
Any agreement for Wirtz could break the British record of 106.7 million pounds (then $131.4 million) that Chelsea agreed to pay Benfica for Enzo Fernandez in early 2023.
Wirtz is set to play for Germany on Wednesday in its Nations League semifinal against Portugal in Munich.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
recommended
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
England's Dawson relishing return from international wilderness
England's Liam Dawson (C) celebrates with team-mates after dismissing West Indies' Johnson Charles during the 1st T20 at Chester-le-Street (Oli SCARFF) Liam Dawson is determined to make the most of his surprise recall to international duty after believing his England career had come to an end. The 35-year-old left-arm spinner had won just 20 caps across all three formats since making his debut in 2016. Advertisement He appeared surplus to requirements as England selected a succession of other slow bowlers in red and white-ball cricket, many of whom had inferior county records to Hampshire mainstay Dawson. But he produced a reminder of his quality with 4-20 and a player-of-the-match award as England marked Harry Brook's first T20 as captain with a 21-run win over the West Indies at Chester-le-Street on Friday. "I had got to an age where I probably thought international cricket was gone," said Dawson after taking his best figures in T20 internationals. "In my domestic career, I've tried to go out there and just enjoy playing for whoever I'm playing for. It was about going out there and not worrying about playing for England. Advertisement "I think that can hamper you sometimes so I've not really worried about that. I'm at an age now where I know that I'm close to finishing." Brook gave Dawson the new ball in Durham, a sign of his confidence in the bowler, and perhaps a marker for next year's T20 World Cup on turning pitches in India and Sri Lanka. "Personally, I think he's been knocking on the door for years to try and solidify that spot and the performance we saw from him was awesome," said Brook of Dawson. "Him and Adil Rashid working in tandem at both ends is going be good to watch in the coming years. He can also help the younger lads along the way, to have him in the inner circle when they are bowling is going to help us a lot." Advertisement The three-match series continues in Bristol on Sunday before finishing at Dawson's home ground in Southampton on Tuesday. Well though he bowled in Durham, Dawson is taking nothing for granted. "I know how cricket works, you've got to be consistent and it's only one game," he said. "So I'll park this and go again. It would be nice to play at my home ground, if selected." jdg/pb
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why were so many Thai farmers among the hostages held by Hamas?
BANGKOK (AP) — Israel says it has retrieved the body of a 35-year-old Thai hostage who was abducted into Gaza during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war. Nattapong Pinta was among 31 Thais taken by the Hamas militant group. Thailand's foreign ministry in a statement Saturday confirmed that Pinta, the last Thai hostage in Gaza, was confirmed dead. It said the bodies of two others have yet to be retrieved. The ministry has said 46 Thais have been killed during the war. Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive by Hamas. They were among tens of thousands of Thai workers in Israel. Here's a look at what they were doing. Why are there so many Thais in Israel? Israel once relied heavily on Palestinian workers, but it started bringing in large numbers of migrant workers after the 1987-93 Palestinian revolt, known as the first Intifada. Most came from Thailand, and Thais remain the largest group of foreign agricultural laborers in Israel today, earning considerably more than they can at home. Thailand and Israel implemented a bilateral agreement a decade ago to ease the way for workers in the agriculture sector. Israel has come under criticism for the conditions under which the Thai farm laborers work. A Human Rights Watch report in 2015 said they often were housed in makeshift and inadequate accommodation and 'were paid salaries significantly below the legal minimum wage, forced to work long hours in excess of the legal maximum, subjected to unsafe working conditions and denied their right to change employers.' A watchdog group found more recently that most were still paid below the legal minimum wage. How many Thai nationals work in Israel? There were about 30,000 Thai workers, primarily working on farms, in Israel prior to the attack by Hamas. In the wake of the attack, some 7,000 returned home, primarily on government evacuation flights, but higher wages than those available at home have continued to attract new arrivals. The Thai ambassador to Israel, Pannabha Chandraramya, recently said there are now more than 38,000 Thai workers in the country. What happened after some left? Faced with a labor shortage in the wake of the exodus, Israel's Agriculture Ministry announced incentives to try to attract foreign workers back to evacuated areas. Among other things, it offered to extend work visas and to pay bonuses of about $500 a month. Thailand's Labor Ministry granted 3,966 Thai workers permission to work in Israel in 2024, keeping Israel in the top four destinations for Thais working abroad last year. Thai migrant workers generally come from poorer regions of the country, especially the northeast, and even before the bonuses, the jobs in Israel paid many times what they could make at home.
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Yemen's al-Qaida branch leader threatens Trump, Musk and others
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The leader of al-Qaida's Yemen branch has threatened both U.S. President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip in his first video message since taking over the group last year. The half-hour video message by Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki, which spread online early Saturday via supporters of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, also included calls for lone-wolf militants to assassinate leaders in Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf Arab states over the war, which has decimated Gaza. The video of al-Awlaki's speech showed images of Trump and Musk, as well as U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of State Pete Hegseth. It also included images of logos of Musk's businesses, including the electric carmaker Tesla. 'There are no red lines after what happened and is happening to our people in Gaza," al-Awlaki said. "Reciprocity is legitimate.' Yemen's al-Qaida branch long thought to be most dangerous Though believed to be weakened in recent years due to infighting and suspected U.S. drone strikes killing its leaders, the group known by the acronym AQAP had been considered the most dangerous branch of al-Qaida still operating after the 2011 killing by U.S. Navy SEALs of founder Osama bin Laden, who masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In 2022, a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan killed bin Laden's successor, Ayman al-Zawahri, who also helped plot 9/11. The Sept. 11 attacks then began decades of war by the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq, and fomented the rise of the Islamic State group. Al-Awlaki already has a $6 million U.S. bounty on his head, as Washington says al-Awlaki 'has publicly called for attacks against the United States and its allies.' He replaced AQAP leader Khalid al-Batarfi, whose death was announced by the group in 2024. Israel-Hamas war a focus of the Houthis as well AQAP seizing onto the Israel-Hamas war follows the efforts of Yemen's Houthi rebels to do the same. The Iranian-backed group has launched missile attacks on Israel and targeted commercial vessels moving through the Red Sea corridor, as well as American warships. The U.S. Navy has described their campaign against the Houthis as the most intense combat it has faced since World War II. The Trump administration also launched its own intense campaign of strikes on the Houthis, which only ended before the president's recent trip to the Middle East. The Houthis' international profile rose as the group remains mired in Yemen's long-stalemated war. Al-Awlaki may be betting on the same for his group, which U.N. experts have estimated has between 3,000 and 4,000 active fighters and passive members. The group raises money by robbing banks and money exchange shops, as well as smuggling weapons, counterfeiting currencies and ransom operations, according to the U.N. The Shiite Zaydi Houthis have previously denied working with AQAP, a Sunni extremist group. However, AQAP targeting of the Houthis has dropped in recent years, while the militants keep attacking Saudi-led coalition forces who have battled the Houthis. 'As the Houthis gain popularity as leaders of the 'Arab and Muslim world's resistance' against Israel, al-Awlaki seeks to challenge their dominance by presenting himself as equally concerned about the situation in Gaza,' said Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen expert of the Basha Report risk advisory firm. 'For a national security and foreign policy community increasingly disengaged from Yemen, this video is a clear reminder: Yemen still matters.'
