Liverpool have agreed a club-record deal to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for a guaranteed £100m plus £16m in add-ons, making the Germany international the most expensive British transfer of all time if all clauses are met. The Premier League champions fended off interest from Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Real Madrid to secure the 22-year-old attacking midfielder, who has already agreed personal terms and will undergo a medical in the coming days.
Sporting director Richard Hughes led negotiations for several weeks, finally striking the deal on Friday morning. Leverkusen had demanded around €150m (£127.6m) but Liverpool refused to meet that price. The add-ons structure was the final sticking point, with the extra £16m dependent on sustained success at the highest level. Wirtz, who can play across the front line, was convinced by head coach Arne Slot's vision and chose Anfield despite more lucrative offers elsewhere.
The £116m fee eclipses Liverpool's previous record of £85m for Darwin Núñez in 2022 and surpasses Chelsea's £115m outlay for Moisés Caicedo. The club's ability to fund the deal was aided by frugal spending over the previous three windows, with only Federico Chiesa arriving for £12m last summer. Liverpool hope to recoup much of the Núñez fee by selling the Uruguayan this summer, with interest from the Saudi Pro League and European clubs.
The Wirtz deal follows the £29.5m signing of Jeremie Frimpong from Leverkusen, while negotiations continue with Bournemouth for left-back Milos Kerkez, valued at £45m. Meanwhile, Giovanni van Bronckhorst is set to join Slot's backroom staff as a replacement for John Heitinga, who left to become Ajax head coach.
