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Liverpool expect to sign Florian Wirtz for £109m after sealing Jeremie Frimpong deal

Liverpool are expected to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, having submitted a club-record £109 million bid for the Germany international.

It is already turning out to be a statement summer from the Premier League champions, who yesterday announced the signing of Jeremie Frimpong, Wirtz’s team-mate at Leverkusen, for £29.5 million. It is also understood that Milos Kerkez remains hopeful that Liverpool will sign him.

Bournemouth are asking for £45 million for the 21-year-old Hungary international left-back, although they have yet to receive a formal approach from Liverpool.

If Liverpool were to sign all three players, it would take their spending to £184 million with months of the window to go.

Given Liverpool tried to sign Kerkez’s now former Bournemouth team-mate Dean Huijsen, who chose to join Real Madrid instead and who had a £50 million release clause in his contract, it would suggest they are also in the market for a central defender this summer.

The signings can expect to be balanced with outgoings, but, having spent relatively modestly last summer, beyond goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili for up to £29 million, who remained at Valencia for a season, and £10 million for Federico Chiesa, there are significant funds to invest.

Having completed the signing of Frimpong, after triggering the release clause in the 24-year-old’s contract, there is a growing expectation that Liverpool will now also secure Wirtz.

Jeremie Frimpong is unveiled as Liverpool's first signing of the summer

Liverpool believe Jeremie Frimpong can play in a number of right-sided positions - Getty Images/Nikki Dyer

Their bid, the second they have submitted, still falls short of the £126.5 million that Leverkusen have been demanding, which would be a record fee paid by a Premier League club.

However, there is a strong sense that Liverpool will succeed and buy the 22-year-old, who had been of interest to Manchester City and Bayern Munich.

Earlier this month, sources suggested that the playmaker was more likely to sign for Bayern, but the scale of the deal makes that unlikely. Crucially, Wirtz has also made it clear that he wants to join Liverpool and informed Bayern of his decision last week.

Sources suggest that Leverkusen, who would prefer not to sell to their Bundesliga rivals, are now happy with the fee being offered by Liverpool, which includes add-ons, and are in the process of negotiating how those payments will be made.

It is expected the add-ons will not be too challenging and include qualifying for the Champions League. Liverpool could pay a higher overall package with more costly add-ons, but they would then include winning competitions such as the Premier League and Champions League.

Wirtz, who is going on international duty with Germany for the Nations League finals, has just won the player of the year award, voted for by his fellow professionals, for the second successive season, with 16 goals and 15 assists, and personal terms will not be an issue for Liverpool.

The fee for Wirtz would eclipse the £85 million that Liverpool paid to sign Darwin Núñez in 2022 and would be the second most expensive transfer in the Premier League after Chelsea paid Brighton and Hove Albion £115 million for Moisés Caicedo.

Nunez, meanwhile, is expected to leave this summer. He has interest from the Saudi Pro League, which is also keen on bringing in Luis Díaz. Liverpool are less open to selling the Colombian.

Frimpong not a like-for-like replacement for Alexander-Arnold

Liverpool have continued talks with Leverkusen over a five-year deal for Wirtz, having negotiated the signing of Frimpong, with the fee for that transfer being paid in three separate instalments. The move will be completed when the transfer window opens on June 1 with Frimpong signing a five-year contract.

In a statement to the club’s website, Frimpong said of the move: ‘It went quite easy. Liverpool came and said they had interest, and obviously for me it was a no-brainer. For me, it was like, ‘Whatever you guys do, just get this done’, [speaking to] my agents: Just get this done.’

“Liverpool fans, I’m going to give my all, my energy, my work rate and hopefully we can win together, we celebrate together, get everything together.

“I’m just excited to be here. Thank you guys for accepting me and I won’t let you guys down and I’ll give you the energy that you guys want.”

Frimpong is not regarded as a like-for-like replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose move to Real Madrid in time for him to play at the forthcoming Club World Cup has been finalised after a £10 million package was agreed. Although Frimpong can play at right-back, Liverpool believe they already have a number of options for that position – including Conor Bradley who recently signed a new four-year contract – and see Frimpong as a player who can be used anywhere on the right flank.

This includes using him as a wing-back and also a right winger, which could become important given Mohamed Salah is expected to represent Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, which starts on December 21 and runs until January 18.

Liverpool’s interest in Frimpong was long-standing and, in fact, they came close to signing him to the club’s academy 15 years ago when he was nine years old. Instead he began his youth career with City, and spent nine seasons there, although Liverpool continued to track him, including when he moved to Celtic and on to Leverkusen.

Frimpong, who helped Leverkusen win their first German title along with Wirtz in 2023-24, becomes the fourth Netherlands international at Liverpool, with Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo already in the squad. There is also the Dutch head coach Arne Slot.

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