Florian Wirtz ‘house-hunting in Liverpool with Bayern chiefs fearing worst as Reds set to offer more than German giants'
BAYER LEVERKUSEN star Florian Wirtz is reportedly house-hunting in Liverpool amid an ongoing bidding war for his signature.
Wirtz, 22, has attracted interest from a host of elite clubs, including Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester City and of course the Reds after two stunning campaigns at Leverkusen.
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The playmaker was one of the key reasons behind the German giants' undefeated Double-winning run last season before amassing a total of 16 goals and 15 assists in 45 appearances this term.
Bayern have been posing as favourites to land the Germany international during the summer transfer window.
According to transfer insider Christian Falk, however, Liverpool appear to be stealing a march on the newly-crowned German champions.
Falk claims the Merseysiders are the likeliest to come the closest to Wirtz's astronomical €150million (£ 126m) release clause, which means they could eclipse the Premier League 's transfer record of £115m.
The journalist also reports that Liverpool 's intense interest is having an effect on the German and that has led him to look at accommodation in the city.
That has caused "a bit of fear" within the Bayern camp which is forcing them to take swift action.
The Bavarians are not keen on meeting Wirtz's expensive asking price or matching Liverpool's bid.
But Vincent Kompany's side are planning a big meeting with the player and his family, including his father Hans-Joachim who is also his agent.
The two parties will meet at club executive Uli Hoeness' house in Tegernsee.
Bayern will try and fork out a deal with Wirtz's family that will prove more attractive than Liverpool's offer in terms of personal terms.
The Bundesliga giants are planning to use Hoeness' influence as the Leverkusen star's dad is the same age as the legendary forward and he thus grew up admiring him.
Bayern and Liverpool received a massive transfer boost recently when Man City pulled out of the transfer race.
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Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
Reuters interview with ECB Vice President de Guindos
FRANKFURT, June 16 (Reuters) - The following is the Q&A of a Reuters interview with ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos. Click here for an interview story and here for a story on the ECB's policy review. Q: President Lagarde said the ECB was in a good place now. Investors and ECB watchers took that to mean a pause in rate cuts is appropriate. Was that the correct interpretation? A: The projections provide the key to understanding our policy decision. It's almost a cliché now but the level of uncertainty is huge. So much so, we published alternative scenarios. The key differences in the scenarios relate to trade policy. In the baseline, we assume no retaliation and a 10% tariff. In the adverse scenario, we assume higher tariffs and retaliation. The final outcome in trade negotiations is by far the most relevant factor of uncertainty that we considered in our projections, which are the basis for our monetary policy decisions. Nobody knows the final outcome of the trade negotiations and the impact it may have on the outlook for growth and inflation. Having said that, markets have understood perfectly well what the President said about being in a good position. Even in this context of huge uncertainty, I think that markets believe and discount that we are very close to our target of sustainable 2% inflation over the medium term. Q: Your projections incorporate interest rate futures, which still price in one more rate cut. So, if the baseline materialises, we can still expect a cut? A: We incorporate market expectations for interest rates into the underlying assumptions of our projection framework. But I think that, in this case, this assumption is not important compared with the consideration we give to trade issues in the June exercise. Trade has a greater magnitude of relevance in influencing our projections. Q: Would you say that risks to the inflation outlook are to the upside or the downside? A: This is quite an important question. A tariff is a tax on imported goods. So the first impact is inflationary. But tariffs simultaneously depress demand, which can more than compensate for the initial inflationary impact. So, in the medium term, tariffs reduce both growth and inflation. But there is another factor that is more difficult to calibrate. A fully fledged trade war could give rise to fragmentation in the global economy and distortions in the global supply chain. And that would be inflationary in the longer term. So, with all these nuances, over the next two years tariffs would reduce both growth and inflation. But, if you look further out, you have to consider the potential impact that fragmentation could have. That goes beyond our projection horizon, but it is something that we will have to take into consideration in the future. Q: You now project inflation dipping below target and then coming back to 2%. We've seen such a scenario before, when the longer-term projection always points to 2%, partly because of mean reversion. So, how much weight do you attach to the 2027 projection? And do you give a lot of thought to this notion of mean reversion as a feature at the back of the projection? A: When it comes to 2026, there are two key issues: the appreciation of the euro and the evolution of prices of raw materials, particularly energy. For 2027 a similar appreciation of the currency and a fall in energy prices is not expected to take place, and that is the reason why we expect inflation to come back up to 2%. But, of course, the level of uncertainty is huge. So, even though we are convinced that inflation will converge to our target, we need to stay data-dependent and decide meeting by meeting. Also, bear in mind that we have already reduced interest rates by 200 basis points – from 4% to 2%. Q: The risk of undershooting in any year is that it influences wage-setting and could perpetuate low inflation. In the first quarter of next year, you see inflation at 1.4%. Do you consider undershooting a significant risk? A: I think inflation is going in the right direction. There is a clear deceleration, also confirmed by the latest data. But I don't think that inflation hovering around 1.4% in the first quarter of 2026 is going to be enough to unanchor inflation expectations and modify the wage bargaining process. We clearly see that wage dynamics are cooling. But, even when you take all these factors into consideration, compensation per employee will be around 3% over time. So, the risk of undershooting is very limited in my view. Our assessment is that risks for inflation are balanced. Clearly, 1.4% is below target. But we look at the medium term, and in the medium term there are other factors that can compensate for the short-term elements that can temporarily bring inflation down. Q: Europe is expected to spend more on defence. Do you think that greater military expenditure should come at the expense of other spending, or should it be financed from debt? A: A lot of uncertainty still surrounds our fiscal policy assumptions and projections. Trade is prominently in the news, but fiscal policy is often overlooked. First of all, fiscal policy in the United States is important. The new tax bill is going to increase the deficit, and the US fiscal position is already challenging. The debt ratio is over 100% and the fiscal deficit between 6% and 7%. So, markets are likely to start paying more attention to fiscal policy in the United States, which could give rise to increasing yields. I think this will catch the eye of markets more and more in the future. In the case of Europe, we have seen a degree of decoupling in terms of yields with respect to the United States. But developments have been much more moderate. Nevertheless, fiscal policy is relevant because there is an additional need to increase spending on defence, which is going to demand more resources. The starting point for some EU countries is not good. The EU does not have much fiscal space, so we have to look for social and political space in order to expand it. We will need to have more support from the people of Europe, and governments will have to explain clearly the necessity for higher spending on defence, because it's a question of independence and autonomy. Q: This extra spending may take some time to ramp up. Do you think ECB watchers or the ECB's own projections overestimate how much fiscal support is coming? A: There are different fiscal multipliers, and much will depend on the kind of fiscal spending that countries are going to pursue. This kind of expenditure takes time to be implemented, so the impact on inflation and growth is not going to be material in the short term. Q: Do you think the ECB can play a role in helping that defence spending, like with the targeted QE, targeted TLTRO, or some other tool? A: I can assure you that this something that we have not discussed. Q: We saw in the minutes of the Federal Reserve System's May meeting that it had extended the swap line with the ECB. Nevertheless, given the political turmoil in the United States, do you think it would be a good exercise to look at scenarios in which US dollar funding dries up? Should the ECB be preparing the financial sector for such a scenario? A: We believe that swap lines with the Federal Reserve are a good instrument in terms of financial stability for both the euro area and the United States. We are fully convinced that the swap lines will be maintained over time because they are positive for both sides and for global financial stability. Q: But markets are starting to openly doubt the status of the U.S. dollar as the world's leading reserve currency. And some central banks are even building up reserves in gold. Do you think it would be prudent for the ECB, and the Eurosystem more generally, also to start building up more gold reserves or reserves in assets other than US dollar-denominated assets? A: The weight of gold in our reserves has been on the increase clearly because of rising gold prices. Central banks use gold as an instrument to diversify in moments of geopolitical risk, and that is understandable. Some are even looking at silver or platinum to diversify. But the role of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency in the short term is not going to be challenged, in my opinion. The role of the euro as a reserve currency in the global arena will depend on actions taken in Europe. If we can achieve a much more integrated goods and services market, then the capital markets union and the banking union will come about much more easily. It's very difficult to make progress in the capital markets union or the banking union if you do not advance in the integration of the goods and services market. Q: You put out a report on the role of the euro last week, which covers basically to the end of last year. Can you provide us with a bit of insight on what's been happening since 2 April. There's been a lot of movement on financial markets. Have euro assets really benefited from capital leaving the US dollar, or is it mostly gold that has benefited? A: If you look at market developments, we had a big decline and a risk-off movement at the beginning of April. And now market valuations have fully recovered – apart from the US dollar and commodity prices. The policies of the new U.S. administration cover not only tariffs, but also fiscal policy and the regulatory frameworks for banks – in terms of the implementation of Basel III – and non-banks, and even for crypto assets. At the end of the day, this is a sort of change of paradigm. There have even been some doubts about how engaged the new U.S. administration is going to be with multilateral institutions. Even though markets have recovered, setting aside the US dollar and commodities, there is something that is quite obvious. The correlation of asset prices has changed quite a lot since April. If you look at developments in stock and bond prices, the correlation has been different from the ones we had in the past. Even in the case of yields on U.S. Treasuries, we have seen ups and downs. But I think that the main element that indicates some doubts about the new U.S. policies is the evolution of the US dollar. That's quite clear. Q: The flipside of that is that the euro has become stronger. Is it becoming an issue for growth and for exporters? Can the euro zone even afford reserve currency status given the currency strength that comes with it? A: I think that, at USD 1.15, the euro's exchange rate is not going to be a big obstacle. And the question of the reserve status of the euro in the global arena is not going to have a significant impact in the short term. In the short term, the status of the U.S. dollar is not going to be challenged. In the medium term, the factor that is going to be key is the kind of policy that we implement in Europe. If we are able to become more independent, more autonomous in defence, and we start to do what we have to do for the integration of markets… gradually, over the medium to long term, the euro will gain market share. But, in the short term, a big jump in market share is out of the question. Q: So you don't seem to be terribly concerned about USD 1.15 for the real economy. Accepting that you have no exchange rate target, what is the point where you become concerned that the exchange rate has a detrimental impact on the real economy? A: Much more than a specific level, I think that we have to look at the speed of developments, how rapid the appreciation or depreciation is. And if there is a clear overshooting of the exchange rate, that is something we should analyse. So far, the evolution has been quite controlled. Perhaps the surprise has been that, at the beginning of the year, most market participants believed that we could go to parity. And instead we have gone to the current level. I would not say that the exchange rate has been extremely volatile so far, or that we have seen a very rapid appreciation. We take the exchange rate into consideration in our projections. The perception of the ECB is that the appreciation of the euro has so far been positive in terms of achieving our target for inflation. That's one of the reasons why we have revised our inflation projections down for 2026. Q: A recent paper by Blanchard and Ubide has relaunched the idea of a European safe asset. You were on the other side of the fence when you were once a finance minister. Do you see growing chances of more joint issuance happening? A: Ideas coming from the academic sphere are very good. The one you mentioned is a very interesting proposal for a EU safe asset in a very liquid and deep market. That is something we have to take into consideration. But I think we have to do a lot of things before that. We need a much more integrated single market, and to make much more progress towards the capital markets union and the completion of the banking union. Simultaneously – and I feel we have made some progress here – we need the fiscal positions of euro area countries to be closer and disparities to be reduced. So it's an interesting proposal from an academic standpoint. But I think that, from a practical viewpoint, there are other necessary conditions before we get there and these are not yet in place. Q: Do you think it could be prudent for the ECB and the Eurosystem's national central banks to bring back some of the gold reserves they store in New York? A: There is no doubt in my mind that they are totally safe. Q: Even when a new Federal Reserve Chair will be appointed next year? A: Well, I don't know who the next Chair is going to be, but I expect it will be a competent and sensible person. Q: Fair enough. But has there been a discussion about this or didn't it even come up? A: Even the possibility of it didn't come up. Q: Over the past few years, the ECB has learned some lessons, such as that you also have to react forcefully to inflation when it's too high. This didn't seem to be a problem a few years ago, yet all of a sudden it was. So, with that in mind, how would you like the new strategy document to reflect that? A: As you have said, the framework for inflation was totally different five years ago. And now we have had a period of high inflation, which was an important change. This is going to be a reassessment of our strategy review. In my view, we are not going to see modifications in the definition of price stability. With respect to the toolkit, I think that all the instruments are going to remain available for use in the future. Simultaneously, we have learned much more about side effects, and we are going to pay more attention to financial stability considerations. QE, for instance, was a new instrument added to the toolkit in 2015. What is important is that when you use an instrument, you can gauge its real impact. Sometimes it's much easier to start using the instrument than to withdraw it -- that's something we have learned as well. And finally, the framework of the global economy is going to be very different from the one we had in 2021. In one sense, I think we are going to have a much more fragmented world. In 2021, we didn't have any discussions about trade. Deflation, or low inflation, was the main point of our review, and how close we were to the lower bound. At the same time, some academics raised the issue of the natural interest rate. This is interesting from a conceptual and an academic standpoint, but not for actual monetary policy decision-making. Q: What should we expect from the new strategy statement? A: I would not expect big surprises. This is about evolution, not revolution. It is just a reassessment. It will be much more focused on how the framework for central banks and for the ECB has changed over the last five years. Q: In a multipolar world, what role can China play for the ECB as a partner, and the People's of Bank of China particularly? A: China is an important player. It's the world's second largest economy. We have some monetary arrangements with the central bank, like our swap lines. Sometimes when we talk about trade policies, we look only at bilateral tariffs. But we need to have a holistic approach. In the case, for instance, of the negotiations between the United States and Europe, what is going to be key is not only the final outcome in terms of bilateral tariffs, but the potential impact of trade diversion. You need to be holistic with respect to trade, because otherwise, perhaps, you are missing the real impact that these trade negotiations are going to have. Q: Do you see that as a big risk, trade diversion? Your colleague Isabel Schnabel seemed to suggest this was not a major risk. A: Well, I don't know whether it's going to be a big risk, but undoubtedly this is something that we have to monitor and take into consideration. Q: Could the ECB work with the People's Bank of China, for example in the field of payments? China has its own digital currency. A: We are fully behind a digital euro. We believe that it's something that is going to be very important in Europe. There will be new legislation in the United States about stablecoins. They are going to become a means of payment and most projects are going to come from the United States. My reading of the digital euro project is digital public money: it will be a means of payment, it's not going to pay an interest rate, and it will not replace cash. We are going to take financial stability implications into consideration too. People, at the end of the day, both in the analogue and digital context, always want to have public money. For them, that's real money. And if people doubt whether they can transform their current account balance into banknotes, then a bank run can take place. The digital euro is going to play a similar role in a digital world. Q: If the case for a digital euro is so clear, why does the legislator not see it? Brussels has been dragging its feet. Why is that, and do you expect a change? A: I hope that we will be able to convince the legislators, but you have to ask them why they have so many doubts. From our standpoint, it's quite clear that a digital euro is something that is extremely relevant and useful in the payment context in Europe. And I think that eventually, they will be convinced of the clear advantages of a digital euro.
Reuters
29 minutes ago
- Reuters
ECB relaxed about euro strength, risk of too low inflation, de Guindos says
FRANKFURT, June 16 (Reuters) - Tariffs will weigh on euro zone economic growth and prices for years, but there is little risk of inflation falling too low, and even the euro's surge against the dollar is not a major worry, European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said. The ECB signalled a pause in policy easing this month despite projections showing price growth dipping below its 2% target temporarily on the strong euro and low oil prices, reviving worries that the ultra-low inflation environment of the pre-pandemic decade could return. But de Guindos played down those fears, arguing that the ECB was finally within striking distance of its target after years of under- and overshooting. "The risk of undershooting is very limited in my view," de Guindos told Reuters in an interview. "Our assessment is that risks for inflation are balanced." A key reason why inflation will rebound to target after dipping to 1.4% in the first quarter of 2026 is that the labour market remains tight and unions will keep demanding healthy increases, keeping compensation growth at 3%, de Guindos argued. While de Guindos did not explicitly argue for a pause in policy easing, he said that financial investors, who now bet on just one more interest rate cut, possibly towards the end of the year, correctly interpreted ECB President Christine Lagarde's message. "Markets have understood perfectly well what the President said about being in a good position," he said. "I think that markets believe and discount that we are very close to our target of sustainable 2% inflation over the medium term." The euro has risen by 11% against the dollar in the past three months, hitting its highest level in almost four years at $1.1632 on Thursday. As well as dealing exporters another blow on top of U.S. tariffs, a stronger euro could lower imported prices further. But de Guindos said the exchange rate had not been volatile, nor had its appreciation been rapid, two key metrics in his view. "I think that, at $1.15, the euro's exchange rate is not going to be a big obstacle," said de Guindos, a former Spanish economy minister and the longest-serving ECB board member. De Guindos poured cold water on talk that the euro could soon challenge the dollar's status as the world's dominant currency. The euro zone still lacked the necessary financial architecture or defence capabilities to become a real challenger and that is also going to limit its gains, another argument to counter fears over too low inflation. "The role of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency in the short term is not going to be challenged, in my opinion," de Guindos said. The dollar accounted for about 58% of global foreign exchange reserves at the end of 2024. While that is down 10 percentage points from a decade earlier, the euro's share has not increased from around 20%. Instead, smaller currencies have benefited. Although excessive government spending and erratic policy in the U.S. have raised questions about debt sustainability and the status of the dollar, there are no doubts about the reliability of the U.S. Federal Reserve, de Guindos added. He said the ECB was convinced that the Fed's recently renewed dollar backstop would remain in place and that gold reserves kept by some of the bloc's central banks at the New York Fed were so safe that even the idea of moving them amid the current political turmoil did not come up.
Daily Record
39 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Jury split on Rangers transfer upgrades but departing Celtic star and £30m man spark a unanimous verdict
Our top team don't shirk any of the big issues as a defining summer kicks off Greg Taylor's future is up in the air with FC Copenhagen the latest club to declare an interest in the Celtic defender. What would be the best move for his career? Scott McDermott: For what he's done at Celtic, Taylor deserves a move to a top club either in England or abroad. If he goes down south, it should be to a Premier League side - or one with aspirations to reach the top flight. And if he leaves the UK, it's important it's to a club in the Champions or Europa League. Craig Swan: At this stage of his career, Taylor will want to play regularly and doing so in a quiet environment will be a nice change from the chaos of the Glasgow bowl. Michael Gannon: Staying at Celtic. The full back will get plenty of action, even with Kieran Tierney back, and he'll be competing for silverware and in the Champions League. Moving house is a pain in the backside anyway. Graeme Young: He's one of the most underrated players in recent Scottish history and any team who wants to use his ability as an inverted full-back should be at the top of his list. Don't rule out his next adventure being the start of a continental odyssey. New Rangers boss Russell Martin has been linked with loads of players as he starts an Ibrox rebuild with Swansea's Harry Darling on the wanted list. What area of the squad needs the most strengthening? Scott McD: Where do you start? That Rangers squad needs a total overhaul so Martin has a job on his hands. He needs two centre-backs, a full-back, a defensive midfielder, a winger and a striker - and that's just for starters! He'll also have to offload several under-performing players during this window. Craig: Defence is key. Rangers conceded bad goals at various stages throughout the term and must be tighter. Michael: Centre back is certainly an issue and they'll need a couple. But Rangers also need to add pace in the wide areas and another striker to hang their hat on with Cyriel Dessers on the way out. There's a lot of work to be done and it needs to be done sharpish. Graeme: An elite central defender must be the target but this team won't be in Martin's vision until a modern sweeper-keeper is sought, if the new boss gets that early it could have a transformative effect. Scotland skipper Andy Robertson could be on his way to La Liga with Atletico Madrid in for the Liverpool left-back. Would a move to Spain be good for him or should he look to stay at Anfield? Scott McD: At 31, Robertson has achieved everything he wanted to at Liverpool and maybe it's time for a fresh challenge. Working with Diego Simeone at Atleti might just give him a new lease of life - which could hopefully benefit Scotland. Craig: Robertson has nothing left to achieve at Liverpool and a move to Madrid would be superb. Michael: It would be a shame if Robertson didn't get a proper farewell at Liverpool after being one of the best signings in their history. At the same time, Atletico is about as attractive a proposition as it gets, as going to a huge club in a superb league must be tempting at this stage of his career. Graeme: It's the perfect transfer, Diego Simeone will bring out the Scot's inner grit and the Ateli boss is famed for allowing his full-backs to wreak havoc in attack. The Madrid derby against his old pal Trent will be tasty too. Dundee boss Steven Pressley's comments about not being a winning gaffer didn't go down well with Dark Blues fans. But what should realistic expectations at Dens Park look like this season? Scott McD: Staying in the league is the priority. Losing key players like Lyall Cameron and Josh Mulligan is a blow but Dundee have the potential to challenge for the top six - then establish themselves in the top half of the table. If Pressley achieves that, he'll soon win over the punters. Craig Swan: Top-six. It's not easy, but it's a proper ambition to have with St Mirren and Kilmarnock getting in there recently. Michael: You've got to admire Pressley's straight talking and blunt honesty but he has hit work cut out winning over the punters. Dundee's aims should be the same as about half the Premiership – stay out of bother and try to sneak into the top six. Europe and runs in the cups would be a major success. Graeme: The new Dundee boss is one of the game's good guys but it is an appointment which feels fraught with danger. An early wobble and Pressley's honest remarks will be used against him. A clear vision and fewer relegation fears should be viewed as a success this season.
