Liverpool are set to pull off one of the biggest moves of the summer — but not just because of the money.
According to Christian Falk via The Daily Briefing, we beat Bayern Munich to Florian Wirtz by convincing the German international of his sporting role at Anfield.
Despite interest from his home country, the midfielder opted for Merseyside over Munich — a decision that cost him up to €24 million in wages.
“Liverpool have convinced the player above all that he has a clear sporting role,” Falk wrote.
Wirtz, who registered 16 goals and 15 assists across all competitions last season, will cost us €140 million, with a chunk of that fee coming through performance-based add-ons.
It’s understood the base deal is possible through “easily achievable goals,” while the remaining €10 million will only be paid “in the event of major successes, for example, winning the Champions League.”
That valuation proved far too much for Bayern Munich.
Falk reports that Bayern’s expectations were closer to €100 million and they didn’t even enter concrete negotiations.
Their head of sport, Max Eberl, admitted: “This transfer fee would have been too high for FC Bayern!
“To be honest, I don’t know whether we would have been able to pay the price that Liverpool would have had to pay.”
Wirtz chose Liverpool over Bayern despite bigger salary offer
Bayern were reportedly prepared to offer the 22-year-old as much as €24 million more in wages than we’ve put on the table.
Instead, the attacking midfielder was swayed by the pitch from Arne Slot and our project — a plan that also allowed us to land Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen earlier in the window.
Liverpool had a second bid for Florian Wirtz rejected (via Christian Falk) earlier in the summer but were determined to make him the marquee arrival of this window.
That also helps explain the low fee we accepted from Brentford for Caoimhin Kelleher — a deal worth £12.5 million rising to £18 million that raised eyebrows.
The Bundesliga runners-up now have to move on without two of their top performers, with Wirtz expected to take on a central attacking midfield role under our 46-year-old Dutchman.
The former Leverkusen talent joins a squad already bolstered by Frimpong and Hungarian goalkeeper Armin Pecsi, with outgoings including Trent Alexander-Arnold and the Irish goalkeeper.
Liverpool continue to back Slot as big-money plan unfolds
Having already landed Frimpong, the Premier League champions have made clear our intention to back our head coach with both funds and faith.
That approach was clear in our determination to sign Wirtz — and the €140 million we’ve committed makes it the most expensive transfer in our history.
While the total package is significant, the structure of the deal aligns with our principles — rewarding success and safeguarding against risk.
Crucially, Falk says Wirtz made the move for sporting reasons, not financial ones.
That mindset should endear the German to our fanbase immediately and speaks volumes about how effective Slot’s vision is proving behind the scenes.
We’ve already seen a glimpse of this selflessness in a post regarding his possible shirt number at Anfield, all of which can be viewed as positives.
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