Premier League champions Liverpool have agreed a £116m deal to sign Germany attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.
The fee for the 22-year-old includes a guaranteed £100m and a further £16m in add-ons.
Those bonus payments would only become payable if the Reds achieve a sustained level of success – which would then make it a British record.
The British record for an initial fee remains Chelsea’s £107m signing of Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Benfica in 2023.
Chelsea also brought in Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo for an initial £100m fee, which could rise to £115m.
The move will, however, be a club record fee for Liverpool.
Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez was brought in from Benfica in a deal worth an initial £64m and rising to a potential £85m with add-ons, while they paid £75m to sign centre-back Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in 2018.
Manchester City had been keen on Wirtz before cooling their interest because of the costs involved in the deal, while Bayern Munich were also linked with him.
Wirtz is believed to have 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.
Wirtz 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 will now turn their attentions to securing a deal for Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez, with talks taking place about a deal of between £45m-£50m.
Liverpool, having won the 2024-25 Premier League title in manager Arne Slot’s first season, have sought to bolster their squad – and the level of their outlay is believed to have been helped by limiting their spending in previous transfer windows.
Last summer, they 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.
In terms of departures, Liverpool have sold Republic of Ireland keeper Caoimhin Kelleher to Brentford for an initial £12.5m, which could rise to £18m.
They are also open to selling certain players as they look to rebalance their summer spend, such as striker Nunez, who is attracting interest from Saudi Arabia and other European clubs.
Centre-backs Jarrell Quansah and Joe Gomez may also leave Anfield this summer.
They have also lost England right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has joined Real Madrid.
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.
‘He will bring versatility’ – analysis
Former West Ham, Wolves and Crystal Palace coach Edu Rubio:
The player’s versatility will be of great value to Liverpool. He can come from the left inside or he play more centrally.
Wirtz’s ability to break lines and find the final pass is exquisite. He is a master in finding the pockets and will also add goals into the squad.
His work off the ball is very good, but will he adapt quickly to the potentially faster pace and more physical game of the Premier League?
He is a player with an admirable work ethic, so Liverpool will definitely be adding an honest and very skillful player into their squad.–BBC
