Florian Wirtz is at the top of Liverpool's list of transfer targets but their first two bids for the German star have fallen short of Bayer Leverkusen's valuation
Florian Wirtz in Germany training
Liverpool have yet to meet Bayer Leverkusen's asking price for Florian Wirtz
(Image: Getty Images)
Former Liverpool CEO Peter Moore has suggested the Reds will be looking to offload players to raise money before upping their bid for Florian Wirtz. Bayer Leverkusen have knocked back two bids for Germany star Wirtz, the second of which could have seen Liverpool pay north of £100million including add-ons.
Wirtz has emerged as a major target as Arne Slot looks to add further quality to his Premier League winning squad. The Reds look to have fought off the challenge of Bayern Munich to install themselves as frontrunners, but they're still some way from Leverkusen's valuation of their star man.
Moore, who was CEO between 2017 and 2020, worked with FSG when the owners sold Philippe Coutinho for a nine-figure sum in the same window the club completed a club record deal for Virgil van Dijk. "I think three or four key signings will be critical," he told talkSPORT.
"There are going to be some hard decisions on players who are going to have to leave, and if Wirtz is real - I know my owners pretty well - then somebody is going to have to go to a) get the money [back] and b) make room in the payroll salary for that."
The Reds have already brought in around £8.4million after allowing Trent Alexander-Arnold to join Real Madrid a few weeks early, but there could be more work to do.
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Slot's team have already added around £60m of new talent, with Giorgi Mamardashvili and Jeremie Frimpong joining this summer. When it comes to raising funds, though, there are a few contenders to be offloaded.
Chief among that number is Caoimhin Kelleher, whose time looks to be up following Mamardashvili's arrival. The Irish international is a target for Brentford, and appears likely to net his club £18m.
Darwin Nunez is another who could fetch a significant fee, with interest from clubs in Saudi Arabia, while Barcelona and Al Nassr have their eye on Luis Diaz. If Liverpool do cash in on Colombia star Diaz, they can expect to turn a profit on a player who cost them north of £40m when he joined from Porto in 2022.
Luis Diaz in Liverpool training
Luis DIaz is among the Liverpool stars who could leave this summer
Over the weekend, Diaz's partner Gera Ponce prompted speculation over the forward's future with an Instagram post. "To the incredible Liverpool fans. From the first day we arrived, we felt first hand what it means to be a part of this club.
"We knew the slogan was 'You’ll Never Walk Alone', but to hear them sing it with so much passion, support us every moment and show such unconditional love... confirmed to us that here you never walk alone," she wrote.
"This fan doesn't just support, it feels. And what you have made my boyfriend and our entire family feel is something we carry in our souls.
"Thank you for so much love, for so much dedication and for making us feel at home. Being a part of this fan is a privilege. There's no doubt: they're the best in the world. This is a real bond, deep and strong, that reaffirms that we'll never walk alone."
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