By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
Liverpool FC have signed Florian Wirtz, a midfielder, from Bayer Leverkusen, for a club and British record deal of £116 million (around €135.45 million).
Wirtz, who is 22 years old and has been capped 31 times for Germany, is believed to have signed a long-term deal of five years.
The deal includes a guaranteed sum £100 million and a further sum of £16 million in add-ons and exceeds the previous Liverpool FC record signing of the Durch professional footballer Virgil van Dijk for £75 million (around €87.57 million) in 2018.
The deal also exceeds the previous British record signing of £107 million (around €124.94 million) that Chelsea FC paid Benfica for Enzo Fernandez, the Argentinian midfielder, in 2023.
Wirtz commented as follows:
"I would like to win everything every year….. [and]…..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.”
And added that:
"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.”
Wirtz is the youngest player to reach 50 Bundesliga appearances at the age of 18 years and seven months, so it will be interesting to see how he performs for his new club in the English Premier League!
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘