It’s happening.
Florian Wirtz to Liverpool is on. The player wants the move, and now the Reds have formally entered into negotiations with Bayer Leverkusen over the 22-year-old attacking star.
A week ago, few would have believed this outcome was possible. For much of the past two years, it was a foregone conclusion that Wirtz would join Bayern Munich—after all, he’s the top young German talent. And Bayern are where top German talent always, always ends up.
If he somehow didn’t end up there, there were whispers Real Madrid and Manchester City were both sniffing around. Liverpool were never talked about as being in the mix.
Right up until they were.
The immediate reaction was disbelief, but doubts were answered by news that City were no longer in the running. That the player had visited Liverpool and been impressed by the club and by manager Arne Slot’s plans for him.
Then, increasingly, there were whispers that Bayern were getting worried. Whispers that it was coin flip. Whispers that, just maybe, it was Liverpool who were now favourites.
Earlier today, those whispers turned into solid reporting. Wirtz wanted Liverpool. Liverpool were ready to smash their own record transfer fee and pay what would be a record fee for a German player to sign him. The framework for personal terms was in place.
Now, Liverpool have entered into formal negotiations—though they probably have been for at least some time now and are just now confident enough to allow that to leak out through trusted channels.
A fee of between €130-150 (£110-£125M) has been proposed. It will be a gargantuan outlay. But then, if Liverpool’s data and recruitment team are confident Wirtz is worth that kind of an outlay, well, we’re inclined to believe them based on track record.
On Sunday, Liverpool’s top priority will be celebrating their 20th domestic league title. There will be a little extra energy added to the celebratory mix thanks to Florian Wirtz.