Liverpool have completed the signing of Bayer Leverkusen playmaker Florian Wirtz for a fee of £116m on a five-year deal.
The total package is made up of a £100m initial fee plus £16m in potential add-ons.
The move for the Germany international, 22, could eclipse the previous British-record transfer fee of £115m that Chelsea paid to Brighton to sign Moises Caicedo in 2023 should the additional bonuses be met.
Wirtz, who has spent his entire senior career at Leverkusen, scored 10 goals and registered 12 assists in 25 starts as his side finished runners-up to Bayern Munich last season, a year on from winning a league and cup double.
Liverpool, like a number of top European clubs, had been watching Wirtz – who was one of the Bundesliga’s most impressive performers last season – for some time.
Manchester City pulled out of the race for his signature, reportedly due to the spiralling costs of the whole package, and Wirtz expressed a preference for Merseyside over Bayern Munich, before Liverpool finally got the deal over the line.
Wirtz follows his former Leverkusen team-mate Jeremie Frimpong to Anfield after the Netherlands international joined in a £29.5m deal earlier this summer.
Wirtz: I want to win everything!
Speaking after signing for Liverpool, Wirtz said: “I feel very happy and very proud. Finally it’s done and I was waiting for a long time.
“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.
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After Liverpool sealed the signing of Florian Wirtz, how does he measure up against the Premier League’s top attacking midfielders?
“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.”
Why game-changer Wirtz was in demand – and how he fits in at Liverpool
Wirtz is Germany’s gem and the Bayer Leverkusen superstar was attracting interest from some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Adam Bate spoke to those in the know to get the lowdown on what makes Wirtz so good and looks at how he will fit in at Liverpool.
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Former Bayer Leverkusen assistant director Devin Ozek discusses what they saw in Florian Wirtz to bring him to Leverkusen
Sky Sports to show 215 live Premier League games from next season
Watch more Premier League matches on Sky Sports than ever before, with 215 games live from the 2025/26 Premier League season
From next season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.
And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games next season are on Sky Sports.
