Florian Wirtz and Jonathan Tah of Bayer 04 Leverkusen shows appreciation to the fans following the Bundesliga match between FC Augsburg and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at WWK-Arena on December 14, 2024 in Augsburg, Germany.Florian Wirtz and Jonathan Tah of Bayer 04 Leverkusen shows appreciation to the fans following the Bundesliga match between FC Augsburg and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at WWK-Arena on December 14, 2024 in Augsburg, Germany.
Florian Wirtz and Jonathan Tah of Bayer 04 Leverkusen shows appreciation to the fans following the Bundesliga match between FC Augsburg and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at WWK-Arena on December 14, 2024 in Augsburg, Germany. | Getty Images
Liverpool are looking to complete a deal for Florian Wirtz as talks continue with Bayer Leverkusen
The move, if completed, will be a club record for the Reds whose previous biggest signing was £85m agreement to sign Darwin Nunez, although not all of that was paid up front and not all the add-ons have been met with the former Benfica striker poised to leave Anfield this summer.
It remains to be seen if the £113m Liverpool will be accepted but a Leverkusen agreement with Bayern Munich could just tip the scales in the Reds’ favour.
Bayer Leverkusen could now happily accept Liverpool offer after Bayern Munich agreement
Having lost their manager to Real Madrid and Jeremie Frimpong to Liverpool, Leverkusen are obviously resistant to letting Wirtz leave for below their valuation. They have also seen Jonathan Tah depart for rivals Bayern Munich with his contract up at the end of the month.
However, despite Tah becoming a free agent - Bayern have now agreed a fee with Leverkusen to sign Tah early. That is because Vincent Kompany’s side are competing in the Club World Cup and want their new signing on board for the tournament.
Given he is still contracted by Bayer, Munich have had to pay a fee to get him out of his deal. Fabrizio Romano reported the deal had been done, with Leverkusen getting a windfall: “Bayern and Bayer Leverkusen agree fee for Jonathan Tah to play the FIFA Club World Cup with Bayern. Deal in place, paperwork ready and then time to sign all documents in order to fly to the US.”
With some extra money now in the bank for Leverkusen, Liverpool will have an easier time getting a deal done for Wirtz and it increases the chances of their latest bid now being accepted - with a decent probability it will be enough to finally strike an agreement.
Bayer Leverkusen risk pricing Florian Wirtz out of a move
The agreement for Tah to join Bayern Munich is akin to the Reds’ agreement with Real Madrid to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold with Liverpool getting £10m for that deal. It is not clear how much has been agreed between the German clubs but Leverkusen will have extracted as much as possible from talks - if their discussions with Liverpool over Wirtz are anything to go by.
Liverpool are way out in front in the chase to sign Wirtz, with the player making clear he wants to move to Anfield rather than making the switch to the likes of Manchester City or Bayern.
He has two years remaining on his contract with Leverkusen and although the Bundesliga club are well within their rights to set their demands for a move, they do risk pricing Wirtz out of a move. The Reds are clearly reluctant to pay the full £126m but £113m is still a huge fee. This time next year, if an agreement can’t reached this summer, Leverkusen will be in a weakened position with Wirtz down to one year on his contract.
An agreement of £113m massively benefits all parties as Liverpool get their man, Wirtz secures his desired move and Leverkusen bank a mammoth transfer fee to go alongside their windfall from Tah’s early move to Bayern.
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