Liverpool are set to make a ‘final bid’ of £118m for Florian Wirtz soon as they look to agree a deal with Bayer Leverkusen, according to reports.
The Reds have been extremely active in the summer transfer window after Arne Slot’s side were crowned Premier League champions at the end of April.
Liverpool have had more time than most to prepare for the transfer market as they have known for ages that they would have Champions League qualification money ahead of next season.
And Liverpool have already signed Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of £29.5m with the Netherlands international replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has joined Real Madrid ahead of the Club World Cup.
The Reds have also reportedly agreed personal terms with Hungary defender Milos Kerkez as they look to agree a fee with Bournemouth for his transfer.
While Leverkusen’s Wirtz could be their marquee signing of the summer with Liverpool locked in negotiations to try and find a compromise over the German side’s asking price.
READ: Five times Liverpool failed with club-record transfers before Wirtz bids, including Van Dijk apology
Liverpool have seen their latest bid of £113m rejected by the Bundesliga outfit and the Daily Mail now claim that the Reds are ‘set to make a final offer’ for Wirtz.
Leverkusen ‘are braced for Liverpool to make another big-money bid in the next 24 hours’ with the Bundesliga side ‘resigned to losing Wirtz but are keen to maximise the finances they receive for their prized asset’.
The German club ‘are asking for £126m – though the Reds are unprepared to go quite that far’ and sources have told the Daily Mail that Leverkusen ‘are now ready for what will likely be a final, written offer from Liverpool that could total £118m when factoring in bonuses and add-ons.’
Despite the deal slowing down, all sides are ‘confident a deal can be struck’ with the Germany international ‘desperate’ to make the transfer to Liverpool.
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Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville insists it would be “smart business” from Liverpool if they can get Kerkez and Wirtz to join Frimpong at Anfield.
Neville told US Overlap last week: “I think when you’re talking about winning the league, what is it that improves you?
“I mean, the only thing that’s going to improve you when you win the league is signing world-class players, or players that have got the potential to be world-class players. So signing Wirtz is fantastic.
“Frimpong and then there’s talk of Kerkez as well, deals with their right and left-back situations.
“So, to get those three done, if they were to get those three done quite quickly, would be smart business. But I wouldn’t have expected anything else from Liverpool.”