Liverpool agreed to signal Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen on Friday in a switch reportedly value over €136 million (£100 million) earlier than add-ons.
That price already makes the 22-year-old Liverpool’s club-record signing, whereas he leapfrogs Kai Havertz as the most costly German of all time and overtakes Jude Bellingham because the priciest Bundesliga sale.
The potential price after bonuses is €150 million (£116 million). Ought to the situations in his contract be met, he’ll comfortably surpass Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez (£107 million with no add-ons) as the largest switch in British soccer historical past, based on BBC Sport’s Emlyn Begley. Moises Caicedo, Fernandez’s teammate at Stamford Bridge, might reportedly value as much as £115 million after add-ons.
Neymar stays the world’s costliest participant from his €222-million switch to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017. If his deal is in the end value €150 million, it could make Wirtz the third-most costly participant ever behind solely Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Wirtz signed a long-term contract on Merseyside.
“I am actually excited to have a brand new journey in entrance of me,” Wirtz stated. “This was additionally a giant level of my ideas: That I need to have one thing fully new, to exit of the Bundesliga and to hitch the Premier League.”
Wirtz has lengthy been thought-about the most effective younger gamers on the planet. He began to appreciate his potential when he recovered from an ACL damage early in 2023 and have become the talisman of Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen squad. Die Werkself sensationally ended Bayern Munich’s 11-year Bundesliga reign whereas profitable their first title with an unbeaten 2023-24 home marketing campaign. Leverkusen additionally beat Kaiserslautern within the DFB-Pokal ultimate. The one defeat of their season got here within the Europa League ultimate in opposition to Atalanta.
Over the course of that historic marketing campaign, Wirtz scored 17 targets and supplied 18 assists whereas enthralling onlookers together with his relentless vitality, evasive dribbling, and general unbelievable technical skill.
Leverkusen received the DFL-Supercup initially of the next time period, however they could not preserve the identical frenetic tempo within the league or cup competitions. However Wirtz was nonetheless influential for Alonso’s facet with 10 targets and 12 assists within the Bundesliga and one other six targets and two assists throughout DFB-Pokal and Champions League play.
His arrival at Liverpool ought to ease a few of the attacking burden on 32-year-old Mohamed Salah, who sensationally fired 29 targets and assisted 18 occasions because the Reds received the 2024-25 Premier League title. Arne Slot’s assault ought to look refreshed subsequent season with Wirtz’s inclusion, whereas Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz are repeatedly linked with strikes away.
“For a striker, it is a dream to have this participant behind you,” Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick stated of Wirtz final December.
Jeremie Frimpong, who additionally joined from Leverkusen, and younger Hungarian goalkeeper Armin Pecsi are the opposite incoming offers struck by Liverpool this summer time. The membership can also be strongly linked with a transfer for Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez.
