Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz is one of the most in demand midfielders in football and many expected him to be the natural successor to Kevin de Bruyne at Manchester City.

But BBC Sport understands Pep Guardiola's side are withdrawing their initial interest in the German international owing to the soaring costs of any deal.

It is estimated that an agreement to sign the 22-year-old would represent the biggest deal in City's history, potentially reaching as much as 300m euros inclusive of transfer fees and wages.

While there is acknowledgement that Wirtz is among the leading young talents in European football and has been linked with Bayern Munich and Liverpool, City are concerned the cost of the deal is over-inflated.

In the past, City have have shown they are prepared to walk away from transfers if they believe a deal does not represent value for money.

Previously, Guardiola's side fell short of signing Fred, Jorginho and Frenkie de Jong because of cost-related issues, before signing current Ballon d'Or winner Rodri in 2019.

Similarly, they cooled their interest in then Tottenham striker Harry Kane because of the size of the transfer fee before landing Erling Haaland for £51.2m in 2022.

In 2020, City signed Ruben Dias after previously walking away from deals for Harry Maguire and Kalidou Koulibaly.

The decision to withdraw from the race to land Wirtz should also be viewed as a commitment to Phil Foden's role in Guardiola's plans.

Foden has long been seen as the long-term heir to outgoing creator De Bruyne and the addition of Wirtz may have put the Englishman's place in Guardiola's plans in question.

But, as things stand, Wirtz is not expected to arrive. City will remain in the market for a new creative midfielder - with Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White among the options.