Liverpool could reportedly be prepared to try and sweeten the deal for Bayer Leverkusen in order to secure the signature of Florian Wirtz.
The Reds now appear to be in firm command of the transfer race for the 22-year-old, with Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer effectively confirming defeat in their pursuit of the Germany international.
The playmaker has seemingly been swayed towards Anfield after a conversation with Arne Slot, and Fabrizio Romano has indicated that LFC are now pushing ahead to try and close the deal ‘as soon as possible’.
Liverpool could offer one player to Leverkusen as sweetener for Wirtz deal
An update from a reliable German source suggests that there may yet be something in it for Leverkusen other than the sizeable transfer fee they’ll inevitably receive for Wirtz.
Taking to X on Saturday morning, Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg claimed that the Bundesliga runners-up are ‘keen to reach a swift agreement with Liverpool’, with the progress of a deal largely contingent on the composition of the first offer from Merseyside.
He claimed that there is ‘discussion around a deal’ which could see Die Werkself receiving a player from the Reds in addition to the transfer fee, with the BayArena outfit in the market for a goalkeeper, centre-back and possibly a striker.
🚨🆕 Bayer 04 Leverkusen are keen to reach a swift agreement with Liverpool over Florian #Wirtz. Much now depends on their first offer.
⚠️ Understand there is discussion around a deal that would involve Liverpool paying a transfer fee and Leverkusen additionally receiving a… pic.twitter.com/codTfoF6xz
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) May 24, 2025
Who could Liverpool sacrifice in order to push through a deal for Wirtz?
If Liverpool are to sacrifice a current member of Slot’s squad as an incentive to try and secure the signing of Wirtz, who could potentially be heading to Leverkusen in exchange for the 22-year-old?
Earlier this week, German outlet Fussball Transfers namechecked Harvey Elliott as someone who’s on the wish list at the BayArena, and the Reds’ number 19 was also mentioned by David Ornstein among a group of seven players who could viably leave Anfield this summer.
Although the ex-Fulham youngster doesn’t fit any of the positions that Die Werkself are targeting, he could represent a like-for-like exchange with Wirtz in terms of one attacking midfielder making way for another, so it’s not inconceivable that LFC may offer him to Leverkusen as part of a prospective deal.
In order for that to happen, whichever Liverpool squad member is earmarked for inclusion on a possible player-plus-cash deal with the Bundesliga runners-up would need to be amenable to a move which’d effectively cast them in the role of sacrificial lamb.
With Richard Hughes seemingly making solid progress on a swoop for the Germany international, let’s hope that there isn’t a nasty sting in the tail which causes the entire pursuit to collapse.
Do not sell Harvey Elliott, and keep that waste of space Jones., who could spend more energy on the pitch than he does fooling around , what anybody see in him baffles me , look at his stats which are awful compared to Harvey’s , who hasn’t had as many start’s as Jones ,Jones is idle can’t pass a ball over 10 yards, can’t tackle just jogs alongside opposition, keep him and sell Harvey is downright criminal 😡
I thought I’d written that at first. Completely agree. Jones adds zilch. How often does he have a goal contribution? How often does he make a superb pass? He has nice ball control and keeps it well enough but then does absolutely nothing with it apart from pass backwards. He really winds me up that he gets lots of minutes over a far superior player in Harvey. There is a chinque in Slots brilliance. And it is Jones.
Agree 100 with the Jones critique…waste of space and timing within game flow/play
Happily let Jones and Elliott go.