Liverpool target gives stance on transfer as rivals hope for revenge after furious summer battle

Liverpool and Bayern Munich locked horns over one of last summer’s biggest transfer sagas and history could be about to repeat itself heading into the summer of 2026

Nico Schlotterbeck declined to comment amid reports of interest from Bayern Munich. Bundesliga leaders Bayern have been heavily linked with the Germany international as they brace for a second summer battling it out with Liverpool for a transfer target.

Schlotterbeck, a centre-back, has been linked with a move away from Borussia Dortmund next summer, with his current deal expiring in 2027. Liverpool and Bayern could end up going head-to-head, just as they did in June when his Germany team-mate Florian Wirtz left Bayer Leverkusen.

Liverpool won the race for Wirtz, with Bayern unable to match the Reds’ nine-figure bid. Schlotterbeck would be considerably cheaper, but he wouldn’t be drawn on his next move, saying: “I can’t really say anything about that” when quizzed about a move to Bavaria.

Speaking ahead of Germany’s World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland, the defender admitted he was previously close to joining Bayern when current national team boss Julian Nagelsmann was in charge. “Yes, apparently not close enough,” he told reporters (via Bild).

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“Working with (Nagelsmann) is easy,” he added. “Because he tells me what he wants. The player tries to implement it. I always try to do my best. And he also accompanied me during my rehab for a long time, always asking how I was doing. The appreciation is great. On both sides. I’m happy that he’s putting so much trust in me these days.”

Schlotterbeck, who recently returned from a meniscus tear, played 45 minutes against Luxembourg on Friday as Germany boosted their World Cup qualification bid.

Liverpool star Wirtz played the full 90 against Luxembourg, having scored in a 3-1 win over Northern Ireland in September. That goal remains his only competitive strike since moving to Anfield in a move which attracted frustration from those of a Bayern persuasion.

“I have to say honestly, in the case of Florian Wirtz, it still hurts, I feel sorry for him because I believe the player would have been better off at Bayern than at Liverpool,” former Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.

His comments came after Uli Hoeness – a former Bayern player and member of the club’s supervisory board – pointed to an inability to compete with Liverpool’s spending power. “Of course, we would have liked to have Florian Wirtz, but we’d never have bought him for €150million (£130million),” Hoeness said in September.

Bayern and Liverpool both have a lot of football to play between now and next summer. By the time that moment arrives, though, Schlotterbeck might be ready to decide whether to make the same move as his compatriot.

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