Liverpool have signed Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen in a £116 million ($156m) deal, the club have confirmed.
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Reds complete Wirtz dealBecomes their record signing Signs long-term contractFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Liverpool have confirmed that they have secured the signing of Wirtz from Leverkusen, with the Germany international signing a long-term contract at Anfield. He becomes the Reds' second first-team signing of the window, reuniting with former team-mate Jeremie Frimpong at Anfield.
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Wirtz's signing comes after months of speculation regarding a move away from Bayer Leverkusen for the star midfielder. The German international had received initial interest from Manchester City and Bayern Munich but decided to hedge his bets towards a move to Arne Slot's side. What followed was weeks of negotiations between Liverpool and Die Werkself before the two sides reportedly agreed on a deal with a base transfer fee of £100m (€118m/$136m), with a further £16m (€19m/$22m) to follow in potential bonuses.
WHAT WIRTZ SAID
Upon his official contract signing with Liverpool, Wirtz spoke to the Reds' club media and said: “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.”
AFPWHAT NEXT FOR WIRTZ?
The German international will be able to take part in Liverpool's pre-season campaign and will likely be one of the first names on the teamsheet alongside Mohamed Salah when they begin their Premier League campaign against Bournemouth on August 15. Speaking about his targets with the club, Wirtz added: “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.”
