Contract until 2030
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Liverpool have completed the signing of Bayer Leverkusen’s attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz for a club-record and Premier League-record fee. The German arrives at Anfield for what is believed to be an initial €125 million fee, with a further €15m in very achievable add-ons, plus another possible €10m in more difficult to reach add-ons. Liverpool made several offers that fell short of Leverkusen’s evaluation of the player, but the club’s determination to get a fair price has now paid off. Wirtz is also Bayer Leverkusen and the Bundesliga’s most expensive ever departure. He has reportedly signed a deal until the end of June 2030 with the Merseyside club.
Wirtz has become the most expensive German player, the most expensive player in Premier League history, and the sixth most expensive player in the history of the game. If all add-ons are met it could rise to third most expensive transfer ever. According to the Transfermarkt database, the transfer fee of the 22-year-old playmaker surpasses the €121m Chelsea paid to Benfica for Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernández in January 2023. The deal is also larger than what Chelsea paid to Brighton for Moisés Caicedo in August 2023. That deal, including add-ons, can grow to €133m.
Where does Wirtz rank among German players? Bayer Leverkusen also holds the current record for the most expensive player in German history. Die Werkself sold Kai Havertz for €80m to Chelsea in the summer of 2020. After scoring the winner in the 2021 Champions League final, Havertz was then sold to city rivals Arsenal in the summer of 2023 for €75m, which constitutes the second biggest fee in history for a German player. To put that in perspective, the Wirtz deal on its own is almost equivalent to the combined value of the two Havertz transfers.
Record transfer – What can Florian Wirtz add to Liverpool?
The transfer also adds a new dimension to Liverpool’s long and storied history. The English record champions have never before spent more than €100m for a new player. Darwin Núñez previously held the record. The Uruguayan forward was signed for €85m ahead of the 2022/23 season from Portuguese giants Benfica. Due to the enormous fee and the hype around the player, Wirtz will no doubt arrive on English shores with huge expectations upon his shoulders.
So what can Liverpool fans expect from Wirtz? He is one of the most talented German footballers in at least a generation. Indeed, Wirtz dominated German football like no player before him in the 2023/24 season when Leverkusen became the first Bundesliga club to win the title undefeated. On that run, Wirtz scored 11 goals and provided 12 assists in 32 games. Although Leverkusen somewhat dropped off this season, Wirtz was still highly productive, scoring ten goals and 13 assists in 30 Bundesliga games. The 22-year-old also scored six goals and one assist in nine Champions League games. And there is a sense that this is just the tip of the iceberg. This is also reflected in his market value, which stands at €140m.
