Liverpool have officially agreed a deal for the German midfield star Florian Wirtz of Bayer Leverkusen worth a club-record £100 million, with an additional £16 million in total add-ons.
The 21-year-old who was instrumental in Leverkusen’s history-making unbeaten domestic season in 2023–24 has agreed to a five-year deal with the Premier League champions. Wirtz picked Liverpool over Bayern Munich and Manchester City, being attracted by the new league’s challenge.
“To be honest, I am very pleased and proud,” Wirtz said. “I was looking for something completely different, and the Premier League is the right step.”
Wirtz comes from Leverkusen’s youth academy and has played 119 games for Xabi Alonso, scoring 38 goals, and providing 43 assists. Besides, he was the main reason behind the club’s Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal successes last season with 30 goal involvements—16 goals and 14 assists.
The fame for his inventive play and dribbling, Wirtz carried out a league-top number of 161 dribbles throughout the last two Bundesliga seasons and was the author of 91 chances in all competitions last season.
He is Liverpool’s second acquisition of the summer from Leverkusen after Jeremie Frimpong, and there are rumors that Milos Kerkez, from Bournemouth, is also very near to signing. On August 10, Wirtz is likely to feature for the first time when Liverpool plays Crystal Palace in the FA Community Shield.