Izuchukwu Okosi
Premier League kings, Liverpool, have sensationally agreed a £116m transfer fee with Bayer Leverkusen for mercurial midfielder, Florian Wirtz.
The Germany international’s fee includes a guaranteed sum of £100m fee, which could rise to £116m in add-ons according to multiple sources in the English media.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe transfer is set to be a club record fee for the Reds.
The duo of Darwin Nunez and Virgil van Dijk hold the records for the highest transfer fees for Liverpool players.
Nunez arrived from Benfica in a deal worth an initial £64m and rising to £85m with add-ons while Van Dijk commanded a £75m fee which made him the most expensive defender in the modern era.
The bonus payments for the Wirtz deal would only become payable if the Reds achieve a sustained level of success – which would then make it a British record.
The current British record is Chelsea’s £107m signing of Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Benfica in 2023.
Chelsea went further for the acquisition of Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo for an initial £100m fee, which could rise to £115m. The Wirtz move will, however, be a club record fee for Liverpool.
Manchester City were said to be keen initially with an interest in Wirtz before cooling their interest because of the costs involved in the deal. Bayern Munich were also linked with him in the current window.
Wirtz reportedly made it clear that his preference was a move to Anfield, with Liverpool negotiating a deal which is below Leverkusen’s valuation of about £126m.
The German international made his debut for Leverkusen at the age of 17, scoring 57 goals in 197 games for the club, and helped them win the Bundesliga for the first time in 2024.
He has scored seven goals in 31 appearances for Germany since making his international debut in 2021.
Wirtz is set to become the second player Liverpool have bought from Bayer Leverkusen this summer, with right full-back Jeremie Frimpong having arrived in a £34m deal.
The Reds, according to the BBC, have also made a move for Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez, with talks taking place about a deal of between £45m-£50m.
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Last summer, the Merseysiders only added Italy winger Federico Chiesa, bought for £12.5m from Juventus, while Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was signed from Valencia in a £29m deal which will involve him joining before the start of next season.
Liverpool have let go of Republic of Ireland keeper Caoimhin Kelleher to Brentford for an initial £12.5m, which could rise to £18m.
They have also lost England right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has joined Real Madrid and was unveiled on Thursday.
Sources at Liverpool have indicated Real paid the Reds 10m euros (£8.4m) to release Alexander-Arnold early from his contract, which was scheduled to end on 30 June, so he could play at this month’s Club World Cup, although sources at the Spanish club have suggested they paid less than that.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
