Liverpool FC have ‘verbally agreed’ a deal with Bayer Leverkusen to sign attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz, and the 22-year-old will command a Premier League record transfer fee.
Liverpool are reported to have ‘verbally agreed in principle’ to pay up to £126 million for Wirtz, reported Fabrizio Romano on Tuesday evening.
Sky Sports Germany report similarly, saying that the two clubs have “reached a basic agreement regarding the transfer terms, [with] only a few details still need to be clarified.”
It is expected that Wirtz will now head to Merseyside to complete a medical and media duties, with personal terms between the player and club having been widely reported to have been agreed some time ago.
The £126 million potential fee, inclusive of add-ons, comfortably breaks the Reds’ previous club-record transfer for Darwin Nunez and becomes the most expensive signing in British football.
It had been previously reported in Germany that the initial fee will likely be €140 million (£118m), meaning around £8 million in additional clauses.
Chelsea had held the record for their £115m signing of Moises Caicedo followed by their £106.8m acquisition of Enzo Fernandez from Benfica in 2023, with £100m deals for Jack Grealish to Man City and Declan Rice to Arsenal making up the rest of the top five.
It comes as a major statement of intent at the start of a busy summer for Liverpool, who are also understood to be pursuing a deal for Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez in the near future.
Talks with Leverkusen accelerated in the buildup to Liverpool’s final game of the season, with the two clubs having remained in dialogue following contact over Jeremie Frimpong.
Interest from Anfield, and in particular the influence of Arne Slot, led Wirtz to turn down overtures from Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
And with Liverpool therefore given a clear run at their priority target, a deal to break the club’s transfer record has now been verbally agreed.
Nunez joined the Reds from Benfica in a deal worth £85m in 2022, exceeding their respective outlays for Virgil van Dijk (£75m) and Alisson (£65m) four years previous.
Wirtz and his family made a trip to the UK towards the end of May for talks with club officials, while they also took the opportunity to begin house-hunting and are understood to have travelled to nearby Cheshire.
