Liverpool are on the verge of completing a club-record transfer for Florian Wirtz. The fee, starting at £100million, could rise to as high as £116m if all add-ons are met. If the full figure is paid out, he would become the British record signing, a fee that has raised some eyebrows about a big summer of spending at Anfield.
In addition to Wirtz’s acquisition, Liverpool have already brought in Jeremie Frimpong, also from Bayer Leverkusen, for £30m. They want to pair him with another full-back in Milos Kerkez as their purchases could reach close to £200m. However, a large portion of that outlay could be very quickly recuperated and may even pay off Wirtz’s initial fee, almost as if the 24-year-old joined ‘for free’.
Following Kerkez's arrival, either Kostas Tsimikas or Andy Robertson could follow them out the door, with Atletico Madrid among the interested parties for the Scot.
Should Liverpool’s valuations be met for all five fringe players, sporting director Richard Arnold may well have paid off the initial £100m fee for Wirtz as the German jets in to the UK to complete his medical on Friday.
There are also suggestions that Darwin Nunez or Luis Diaz could make way to help facilitate the arrival of Wirtz, with Napoli and Barcelona showing their respective interest, but Liverpool’s asking prices have so far proven stumbling blocks.
But the next few weeks promise to be busy for Liverpool even after getting three important players through the door in Wirtz, Kerkez and Frimpong.
However, attention will turn towards outgoings to help balance the books and potentially free up funds for further signings. Guehi and Alexander Isak are particularly of interest.