Liverpool have agreed a club-record deal to sign Florian Wirtz fromBayer Leverkusen. The Premier League champions will pay a guaranteed £100m for the coveted Germany international, plus potential add-ons of £16m that would make Wirtz the most expensive British transfer of all time.
Richard Hughes, Liverpool’s sporting director, has been engaged in negotiations for the attacking midfielder for several weeks and a deal was finally struck on Friday morning. Leverkusen had wanted €150m (£127.6m) for the 22-year-old, who had also attracted interest from Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Real Madrid but made it clear to the German club that Anfield was his preferred destination. He will undergo a medical and finalise the transfer in the coming days and finalise the transfer once the window reopens next week. Personal terms have already been agreed.
Liverpool made it clear throughout negotiations that they would not meet Leverkusen’s asking price but, after settling on a guaranteed £100m, the past few days have centred on the extent and the structure of the add-ons. Wirtz will become a British record signing, eclipsingChelsea’s £115m purchase of Moises Caicedo, if sustained success at the highest level activates the extra £16m.
The fee will comfortably be a record investment by the club. Liverpool’s previous transfer record was the£85m deal that brought Darwin Núñez to Anfield from Benfica in June 2022. The champions hope to recoup most of that sum this summer by selling the Uruguay international, who has interest from the Saudi Pro League and European clubs.
Liverpool’s ability to fund the Wirtz deal has been made possible thanks to relatively frugal spending in the previous three transfer windows. Federico Chiesa, another forward who could leave this summer, was the club’s only incoming ahead of Arne Slot’s debut season as head coach for £10m plus £2m in add-ons from Juventus. The club’s faith in the squad rebuilt by Jurgen Klopp was vindicated as Slot’s team won a record-equalling 20th league title with four matches to spare.Liverpool consider Wirtz a world class and potentially transformative talent. His signing is therefore in keeping with the approach that saw Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk bought for then record transfer fees, and not a departure in transfer strategy by owners Fenway Sports Group.The Anfield club had expected Wirtz to join Bayern, or possibly remain with Leverkusen, but the player’s desire for a fresh challenge outside Germany and his talks with Slot titled the fight in their favour. City claim they pulled out of a deal for Wirtz due to the overall costs involved in signing the attacking midfielder, who can play across the front line, on a five-year contract. Reports in Germany, however, have suggested Wirtz was unconvinced about City due to doubts over Pep Guardiola’s long-term future at the club.Hughes also remains in talks with his former club Bournemouth over the signing of left-back Milos Kerkez, who is valued at £45m. Liverpoolhave already signed Jeremie Frimpongfrom Leverkusen for £29.5m while Georgia international goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili will complete his move from Valencia following last summer’s £29m deal. Liverpool have so farsold Caoimhin Kelleher to Brentfordfor a fee that could rise to £18m andmade £10m from allowing Trent Alexander-Arnold to join Real Madrid 29 days before his contract was due to expire. There will be further outgoings during Liverpool’s ambitious summer revamp.
Meanwhile, the former Arsenal midfielder and Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst is set to join Arne Slot’s backroom staff as a replacement for John Heitinga. Van Bronckhorst has been out of work since being sacked by Besiktas in November and has extensive coaching experience with Feyenoord, Slot’s former club, the Chinese Super League side Guangzhou and Rangers, whom he led tothe 2022 Europa League final.
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The 50-year-old was sacked by Rangers later that year after a poor start to the 2022-23 campaign. Heitinga was appointed head coach of Ajax last month on a two-year contract.