Liverpool have reportedly submitted a third transfer offer in their attempts to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.
Just over a week ago, The Athletic shared details of a second bid from Anfield for the 22-year-old which was worth up to £109m and knocked back by the Bundesliga runners-up (The Times), who are widely believed to be holding out for a price point of €150m (£126.5m).
An improved offer is now understood to have been lodged as the Premier League champions make their latest move in trying to land the Germany international.
Liverpool submit £113m offer for Florian Wirtz
Late on Friday night, the Daily Mail reported that Liverpool have submitted a bid to the tune of £113m for Wirtz, comprising a base fee of £100m and another £13m in add-ons, with talks ongoing between the relevant parties.
The player has made no secret of his desire to join the Reds, and discussions are continuing to establish a middle ground which’ll satisfy everyone involved in the proposed transaction.
Although this latest offer still falls short of Leverkusen’s valuation, Fabrizio Romano outlined in a late-night update (via his YouTube channel) that the deal is ‘almost there’ and ‘close to being done’, with only ‘final details’ to be resolved in terms of the particulars of the contract that the 22-year-old would sign.
Liverpool will probably have to try again for Wirtz
With Liverpool’s third bid amounting to just £4m more than their previous attempt for Wirtz, we suspect that Leverkusen will again give it the thumbs-down as they hold out for a figure closer to their purported £126m valuation.
However, there’s been nothing from any reliable sources to indicate that the Bundesliga club are in danger of pulling the plug on the move, so Reds fans ought not to worry for now about that nightmare scenario. Indeed, Romano has reassured Kopites who may be fearful of the deal collapsing that they can ‘relax’.
It’ll likely require at least one more offer from Anfield chiefs to get the German outfit to say yes, although the response from the BayArena to this latest bid could be used as a guide for FSG if they need to come to the table with another proposal for the player.
According to Bild, a medical could take place as early as next week before Wirtz jets off for his summer holidays, but that schedule might be optimistic if Leverkusen reject the £113m bid from Liverpool and Richard Hughes is forced to put together improved package to try and get the deal over the line.
The back-and-forth continues for now, but hopefully all parties involved can soon reach a mutually satisfactory agreement and we won’t have to wait much longer for the Germany international to be pictured signing on the dotted line at Anfield.
Interesting to hear the latest comments about wirtz from shearer and micah Richards. Both don’t deny his technical abilities, his passing ect, but the biggest doubt his will he survive in the most physical league on planet, the premier league.
Wirtz will be the most lightweight player in the history of the premier league, playing in an already lightweight Liverpool team. Then you add the pressure, the biggest British transfer, he must hit the ground running and be an instant success, otherwise by next December he’ll be labelled a massive flop.
Darwin nunez was the last big transfer, much was promised, little was delivered.
Hopefully the lessons have been learnt from buying players just on statistics. Instead of proper scouting, actually watching players. Watching football.