Ricken confirms Dortmund wanted to sign Wirtz in the past

Lars Ricken has confirmed that Borussia Dortmund, like many other German clubs, were keen to sign Florian Wirtz when he was coming through the youth ranks at FC Köln.

"Yes, we would have liked to have brought him to BVB back then. As a very young player, he was already a top talent, so every good scouting department should have known his name," Ricken told Sport Bild.

Ricken, who is now Borussia Dortmund's managing director for sport, was the club's academy director for many years.

He held talks with Florian Wirtz's father, but the Black and Yellows eventually lost the race to Bayer Leverkusen.

“I had some very pleasant conversations with Florian's father. But the family decided not to go straight to Bayern or Dortmund,” Ricken said.

Wirtz moved to Bayer Leverkusen in January 2020.