Liverpool agree British-record fee to sign Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen

Premier League champions Liverpool have agreed a British-record transfer fee of £116.5 million to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.

The total package is £116.5 million (€137.5 million) – made up of a £100 million plus £16.5 million in potential add-ons.

The fee comfortably surpasses Liverpool’s own record – but the performance-related add-ons, if achieved, would make it a potential British record fee, with the overall outlay set to surpass the £115 million Chelsea paid Brighton in 2023 for Moises Caicedo.

Striker Darwin Nunez was Liverpool’s previous record signing in 2022.

Wirtz is now free to speak to Liverpool, where personal terms are not expected to be a problem, as he only wants to join Liverpool.

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The medical will happen next week when the player returns from his holiday, Sky Sports reported.

Liverpool, like a number of top European clubs, had been watching Wirtz, who was one of the Bundesliga’s most impressive performers last season, for some time.

Manchester City pulled out of the race for his signature, reportedly due to the spiralling costs of the whole package, and Wirtz expressed a preference for Merseyside over Bayern Munich, before Liverpool finally got the deal over the line.

The 22-year-old midfielder, who has spent his entire senior career at Leverkusen, scored 10 goals and registered 12 assists in 25 starts as his side finished runners-up to Bayern Munich, a year on from winning a league and cup double.

Wirtz scored for Germany in last Wednesday’s 2-1 Nations League semi-final defeat against Portugal.

Wirtz follows his former Leverkusen team-mate Jeremie Frimpong to Anfield after the Netherlands international joined in a £29.5 million deal.

The Star