Liverpool have submitted a club-record €130 million ($147M) bid to sign Bayer Leverkusen playmaker Florian Wirtz this summer, a source has told ESPN.
The terms put forward by the Premier League champions would surpass the deal for striker Darwin Núñez in 2022, which could yet reach £85m with add-ons.
Wirtz had been expected to remain in the Bundesliga next season, either with Leverkusen or with German champions Bayern Munich. However, a source has told ESPN that Wirtz is keen on a move to the Premier League, having been impressed by Arne Slot’s plans.
The Germany international, who has registered 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 appearances for Leverkusen, is highly rated at Anfield, having demonstrated the ability to play in a variety of attacking positions for both club and country.
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann, a former Bayern Munich coach, said Friday he had not recommended one club or another to Wirtz.
“If he has the best feeling at Liverpool, then he should have that, but I haven’t recommended him to not go to Bayern Munich or to any other club,” he said during a news conference. “I don’t set out to say what is good and what is bad, but what is important to me as a national team, I give him that and then he has to make the decision for himself.”
Wirtz had also been linked with a move to Manchester City and been earmarked as a potential replacement for outgoing Kevin De Bruyne.
However, ESPN previously reported that conversations with Leverkusen and Wirtz’s representatives resulted in City opting to walk away from the negotiating table as club bosses viewed the deal as financially unviable.
Dialogue between Liverpool and Leverkusen is already ongoing and follows a £30m deal for wing-back Jeremie Frimpong.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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