Report: Liverpool agree to pay up to €150M for Leverkusen's Wirtz

Premier League champions Liverpool struck a deal Tuesday worth as much as €150 million to sign 22-year-old playmaker Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, transfer insider Fabrizio Romano reports.

Wirtz would become the third-most expensive signing of all time if all bonuses are activated.

Paris Saint-Germain's €222-million acquisition of Neymar in 2018 and their subsequent €180-million move for Kylian Mbappe are the only two transfers in world football that cost more than Liverpool's total package for Wirtz.

But he's now likely to arrive on Merseyside as the most expensive Premier League signing, outranking current record holder Enzo Fernandez, who cost Chelsea a reported €122 million in 2023.

Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro insisted his club wouldn't accept less than €150 million for Wirtz. The asking price reportedly warded off Manchester City, who turned around and signed left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri and midfielder Rayan Cherki for less money combined. Tijjani Reijnders is reportedly on the verge of joining the club from AC Milan, too.

Bayern Munich also threw in the towel once they learned Wirtz was favoring a move to Liverpool. The German midfielder began looking for houses in northwest England in May, according to The Athletic's David Ornstein.

Wirtz said in May he was "keen" to leave his comfort zone and "experience something new" after spending five years in Leverkusen. He joined the club from local rivals Koln in January 2020 and quickly became the youngest Bundesliga scorer ever at 17 years and 34 days old.

Wirtz ultimately powered Leverkusen to the Bundesliga title in 2024 while recording 18 goals and 20 assists in all competitions.

His Leverkusen teammate, right-back Jeremie Frimpong, already joined Liverpool in a separate transaction worth a reported €35 million. He arrives as a direct replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold, who joined Real Madrid for a reported €10 million ahead of the Club World Cup.

Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez is expected to become Liverpool's third summer signing, according to Romano.

Wirtz will bring a more consistent end product to Anfield than Liverpool's current playmaker, Dominik Szoboszlai, who posted a modest return of six goals and six assists in 36 Premier League appearances this season.

While Leverkusen fell short of defending their title, Wirtz ended the league campaign with 10 goals and 12 assists in 31 matches.

He leaves the Bundesliga outfit with a total of 57 goals and 63 assists in 197 games played.

Liverpool won the Premier League without meaningfully improving their squad. The Reds spent a reported €30 million on Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili before sending him back to the La Liga club on loan and made a €12-million bet on former Juventus winger Federico Chiesa but largely asked head coach Arne Slot to do his best with Jurgen Klopp's former side.

It's now breaking records to replenish the club's ranks as it attempts to compete on multiple fronts next season.