Florian Wirtz of Bayer Leverkusen during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD4 match between Liverpool FC and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Anfield
Florian Wirtz of Bayer Leverkusen during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD4 match between Liverpool FC and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Anfield
Liverpool have reached an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen to make Florian Wirtz the most expensive player of all time at Anfield. And the Germany international is now expected to complete his move next week when the transfer window re-opens as he gets set for a Merseyside medical.
The Reds will pay £116m for Wirtz in a deal that smashes the current transfer record at Anfield by more than £30m. In 2022 the Reds committed for £85m to land Darwin Nunez from Benfica, which was made up of £21m worth of add-on fees, while a guaranteed sum of £75m was also paid for Virgil van Dijk in January 2018.
Liverpool will pay an initial fee of £100m with the rest made up of add-ons worth £16m and the deal comes after three weeks of detailed negotiations, which intensified after Wirtz and his entourage informed all parties of their decision to choose Liverpool over Bayern Munich on May 23. Manchester City had earlier been interested but walked away reportedly due to the cost of the overall transfer.
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The blockbuster agreement is not viewed as a departure from the club's strict self-sustaining policy, imposed by owners Fenway Sports Group, but rather a transfer that has been facilitated by the discipline shown since the summer transfer window of 2023. Liverpool have added just one senior player to their ranks in two years, which was a cut-price £12m agreement for Federico Chiesa from Juventus last year.
Since Wirtz expressed his desire to move to Anfield, Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes has been leading on the negotiations with his Leverkusen counterpart Simon Rolfes and a bid of £109m was tabled in late May before the offer was increased to £114m, inclusive of add-ons, earlier this month.
That offer was never formally rejected by the German club and instead acted as the catalyst to find terms that were agreeable for both. Discussions continued, with both keen to reach a relatively swift conclusion for a deal of its size and the respectful relationship between the two has helped ease the negotiation process.
Leverkusen had been reluctant to lose their star man but have always preferred the attacking midfielder to move to the Premier League over Bundesliga rivals Bayern, who wrestled back their league title from die Werkself in the 24/25 campaign.
The Premier League champions agreed an initial sum at £100m but talks had remained ongoing to reach an accord on the total of add-ons, with Leverkusen holding out for as close to their £126m asking price as possible. Liverpool never had any intention to go as high as that figure.
Some reports in Germany had claimed both Harvey Elliott and Jarell Quansah could be used as potential makeweights, but the process to bring Wirtz to Anfield never included dialogue on other players' futures.
The broad agreement of £100m had been in place for some time but the size of the transaction meant the fees relating to add-ons had been a sticking point. As a result, dialogue has remained open and fluid to find the sum, which has now been found. There had also been reported talks over how FC Koln, Wirtz's former club, would be paid their minimal share having negotiated a sell-on clause when he joined Bayer five years ago.
Wirtz will now undergo a medical and is expected to be confirmed as a Liverpool player when the transfer window re-opens next week before taking a short end-of-season holiday ahead of reporting for training at the AXA Centre in Kirkby next month. Clubs can resume trading from June 16, through to September 1, but are free to continue putting structures for deals in place before then.
Liverpool return to pre-season training on July 7 and Wirtz is expected to be part of the contingent that reports back for duty at the £50m training complex ahead of a friendly with Preston North End at Deepdale later that week.
That game is likely to be the former Koln youngster's unofficial debut for Arne Slot's champions and he will be joined by Netherlands star Jeremie Frimpong, who also signed from Leverkusen after his £29m release clause was triggered last month.
The Reds fly out to Hong Kong on July 21, as part of their summer tour of the Far East and will clash with AC Milan at Kai Tak Sports Park on July 26 before visiting Japan for a game with Yokohama Marinos on July 30.
Liverpool initially believed Wirtz would choose to stay put in his homeland with either Leverkusen or Bayern when they made their initial pitch last month, but after a short break in Corsica, the gifted playmaker and his parents decided that a move to Anfield would be the best decision for his career, while misplaced Munich confidence was also said to have 'greatly irritated' the Wirtz family as the player weighed up his options.
The Bundesliga player of the season then took to social media to dismiss claims in Germany media that he was demanding Alexis Mac Allister's No.10 shirt at Anfield, posting on his Instagram story on June 3: "Who says I want the 10(?) I respect players. Don't believe everything what's written (clown emoji)."
Speaking at Anfield after seeing the Reds lift the Premier League title on May 25, club chairman Tom Werner said of this summer's transfer window: "We go again. It never gets old, winning. We owe it to all of our supporters to bring back a team even better next season. It's already [a] busy [summer]."
With Victor Boniface expected to leave alongside Wirtz, Frimpong and Odilon Kossounou this summer, 2025 will be a lucrative year of player sales for Bayer, who have appointed former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag to succeed Xabi Alonso, who was appointed at Real Madrid.
Reports in Germany have claimed Bayer have already turned their attention towards finding a replacement for Wirtz, although a big-money marquee replacement has been played down by Bild. Sporting director Rolfes and managing director Fernando Carro are reportedly keen to travel the same route that saw them reinvest the £71m that took Kai Havertz to Chelsea in 2020. The spreading of that transfer fee helped them to compete for the title when Alonso was in charge.
Manchester United winger Antony has been linked alongside AC Milan defender Malick Thiaw and Como's Nico Paz as Leverkusen go about planning for life after Wirtz, who contributed 23 assists and 21 goals across his last two terms in the Bundesliga. Reds defender Quansah has also been linked with a switch to the BayArena.
Speaking at his unveiling as Alonso's successor last month, Ten Hag said: "We have to build a new squad and a new team. It's a fantastic process that I'm looking forward to with a lot of enthusiasm. I’ll work with the players who are available on 1 September.”