Liverpool have opened talks with Bayer Leverkusen over the signing of playmaker Florian Wirtz.
Communications between the two clubs had already been opened after an agreement was reached for Liverpool to sign right-back Jeremie Frimpong.
Any move for the 22-year-old would represent a club record signing for Liverpool and would also make Wirtz the most expensive ever German player.
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On Friday, The Athletic reported Bayern Munich believed Wirtz would not join them this summer as he was on track for a move to Anfield, having also been a transfer target for the German champions.
Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro said in April Wirtz had a “very high chance” of staying at the club this summer, but The Athletic reported earlier this month that Liverpool had made contact with the player’s representatives after holding a long-standing interest in acquiring the attacking midfielder.
Wirtz signed a new contract with Leverkusen in 2022, extending his terms until 2027. He went on to become one of Europe’s greatly coveted talents, after being named Bundesliga’s Player of the Season in 2023-24 after helping Xabi Alonso’s side to an unbeaten domestic campaign and a maiden Bundesliga title, notching 18 goals and 20 assists.
The 22-year-old went on to register 16 goals and 15 assists this term, as Leverkusen finished 13 points behind Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, while becoming a regular feature for Germany, making 29 appearances since making his senior debut in 2021. Wirtz scored twice in five matches for Julian Nagelsmann’s side at the 2024 European Championship.
Wirtz told Sports Illustrated in May he is “definitely keen” to “experience something new,” having completed six consecutive seasons at Leverkusen since joining from Cologne in 2020.
The playmaker could be one of three key departures for Leverkusen this summer. The Athletic reported earlier in May that wing-back Frimpong was set to undergo a medical ahead of a proposed move to Liverpool, having agreed a five-year contract to join the Premier League champions following the upcoming departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Meanwhile, head coach Xabi Alonso announced he would depart the club at the end of the season after two-and-a-half years in charge. The Athletic reported that Alonso is Real Madrid’s first-choice option to replace Carlo Ancelotti at the Bernabeu, with the Italian becoming Brazil’s head coach on May 26.
Liverpool won this season’s Premier League title with four matches to spare following a 5-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in April, levelling Manchester United’s record top-flight title haul (20).
(Pau Barrena/Getty Images)
