Liverpool offer Bayer Leverkusen £110MILLION for Florian Wirtz – in what would be a club-RECORD deal

 Liverpool are close to obliterating the British transfer record for Florian Wirtz – as they received a welcome £10million windfall from Real Madrid for Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The Premier League champions have wasted no time in starting their rebuild and concluded their first piece of business on Friday night when Jeremie Frimpong’s £29.5million move from Bayer Leverkusen was concluded; the Netherlands international will take Alexander-Arnold’s role in the squad.

Real confirmed Alexander-Arnold’s signing themselves on Friday, the England international moving to Spain after his contract elapsed. To ensure he was available for the Club World Cup in America, something new coach Xabi Alonso insisted on, Real paid a premium to secure his release.

It is the prospect of wrapping up talks with Leverkusen for Wirtz, however, that has sparked huge excitement on Merseyside. The 22-year-old, a close friend of Frimpong, is regarded as one of the most exciting young talents in the game and he will be Arne Slot’s headline addition of the window.

Leverkusen, as Mail Sport reported on February 18 when Manchester City’s interest in Wirtz first came to light, have made it clear they want €150million (£126m); Liverpool’s currently have a bid of €130m (£109m) lodged but it is understood that middle ground will be found quickly.

Wirtz has made it clear he wants to move to Anfield and Richard Hughes, Liverpool’s Sporting Director, has proposed a package to his Leverkusen counterpart Simon Rolfes with easily attainable performance-related bonuses, such as Champions League qualification.

Arne Slot is said to have been in instrumental in convincing him that Liverpool are a good move

Manchester City pulled out of the race after the fees involved in the deal became too heavy 

According to sources in Germany, five percent of the transfer fee will be distributed among the clubs Wirtz played for between the ages of 12 and 23; Wirtz joined Leverkusen in January 2020 from FC Köln and they are due in the region of €3 million.

Other clauses would include Liverpool having to pay Leverkusen if they win the Premier League again or the Champions League but these are not going to prove sticking points and the indications are they could shake hands at €143million (£120m) – it would be an extraordinary moment for Liverpool.

One of the biggest decisions Fenway Sports Group made on becoming Liverpool’s owners was to shatter the British transfer record for Andy Carroll in January 2011, when they spent £35million to sign him from Newcastle.

They have pushed the boat in the intervening years, doing deals for Mo Salah (£36.9m, June 2017), Naby Keita (£50m, June 2017), Virgil van Dijk (£75m, January 2018) and Darwin Nunez (£85m, June 2022) but going beyond £100million for the first time is a huge statement of intent.

Wirtz, who is away with Germany’s squad for the Nations League finals, will find the settling in process easier as Frimpong will be waiting for him. 

Liverpool have been keen on the exciting right-sided player for some time and triggered his release clause.

Wirtz has emerged as one of Europe’s best, and most wanted, starlets over the last two years

Liverpool completed the signing of Jeremie Frimpong from Leverkusen for £29.5m on Friday

Many will see Frimpong as Alexander-Arnold’s like-for-like replacement but Liverpool were drawn to his versatility and there is the possibility of him playing in Salah’s position in the New Year when the Golden Boot winner goes to the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt.

Liverpool already have Conor Bradley to play at right-back and hopes are high that the young Northern Irishman will continue to flourish. 

Once business is concluded for Wirtz, Liverpool will press ahead to wrap up a deal for Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez.