Liverpool complete signing of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen

Liverpool have completed the signing of Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz for a British-record transfer fee of £116 million plus potential £18 million add-ons.

The Premier League champions have agreed a fee of € 136.3 million (£116m), with €117.5m (£100m) due upfront and a further €18.8m in add-ons, to sign the 22-year-old.

Wirtz’s signing will surpass the previous British transfer record of £115m, which Chelsea paid Brighton for Moises Caicedo in August 2023 – breaking the Reds’ record transfer fee of £85m paid to Benfica for Darwin Nunez in 2022.

In a longer-than-usual transfer saga for Liverpool, the German international turned down both Bayern Munich and Manchester City, choosing to join the Premier League champions in a club-record transfer.

The Reds’ first bid for the attacking midfielder, which was in the region of €100 million plus €15 million in additional payments, was pushed away by the German club.

Leverkusen rejected a second offer from the Merseyside Reds for the attacking gem. Arne Slot’s side, then succumbed to offering a fixed sum of €118 million ($134m) plus €12 million in bonus payments.

Wirtz turned down both Bayern Munich and Manchester City to sign for Liverpool

Wirtz has now signed a five-year contract with the English champions, which expires in 2030.

Wirtz has played an outstanding role for Bayer Leverkusen in recent seasons, netting 16 goals and providing 15 assists last campaign.

Florian Wirtz speaking after signing for Liverpool: “I feel very happy and very proud. Finally it’s done and I was waiting for a long time – finally it’s done and I am really happy.

“I’m really excited to have a new adventure in front of me. This was also a big point of my thoughts: that I want to have something completely new, to go out of the Bundesliga and to join the Premier League.

“I will see how I can perform there. I hope I can do my best. I spoke also with some players who played there and they told me that it’s perfect for me and every pitch is perfect, you can enjoy every game. I’m really looking forward to playing my first game.

“I would like to win everything every year! First of all, we have to do our work, I have to make my work.

“In the end, we want to be successful. Last season they won the Premier League so my goal is for sure to win it again and also to go further in the Champions League. I’m really ambitious.”

Having established himself as a key figure for both club and country, he impressed notably at Euro 2024.

After five years at Leverkusen, where he played a vital role in their Bundesliga campaign during the 2023/24 season, the Germany international is eager for a new challenge.

Wirtz’s move will see him join former Leverkusen team-mate Jeremie Frimpong at Anfield, following the Netherlands international’s £29.5m move.