Premier League champions Liverpool have agreed a club-record deal worth up to £116m (€136.36) to sign Florian Wirtz after Bayer Leverkusen finally settled on a fee for their playmaker.
The Reds had two bids rejected, the last one of £113m which would have seen £100m paid up front with performance-related add-ons, but have finally got the deal over the line.
Liverpool will still pay an initial £100m – comfortably surpassing their own record outlay – but the performance-related add-ons, if achieved, would make it a potential British record.
Leverkusen had valued the 22-year-old Germany international around £125m but regardless, Liverpool's overall outlay could surpass the £115m Chelsea paid Brighton in 2023 for Moises Caicedo – who turned down Anfield after the Seagulls had accepted an offer which was subsequently matched by their Premier League rivals.
Striker Darwin Nunez was their previous record signing in 2022, although they have not paid the full £85m as he has not met all the requirements for certain add-ons to be due.
Liverpool, like a number of top European clubs, had been watching Wirtz for some time but did not consider themselves front-runners for his signature.
However, after Manchester City pulled out, reportedly due to the spiralling costs of the whole package, and Wirtz expressed a preference for Merseyside over Bayern Munich, sporting director Richard Hughes changed gear.
Talks were already ongoing with Leverkusen over Jeremie Frimpong, who became the first new addition to Arne Slot’s squad in a £30m deal late last month, which made the line of communication easier.
Hughes’ connections with his former club Bournemouth mean he was also well-placed to progress talks with the Cherries over the signing of left-back Milos Kerkez, a player he originally brought to the Premier League.
Meanwhile, Tottenham are believed to be prepared to rival Manchester United for Brentford attacker Bryan Mbeumo (above) this summer after the appointment of Thomas Frank.
Spurs announced former Brentford boss Frank as their new head coach on Thursday night on a three-year deal.
One of Frank's first moves in charge could be to try and tempt Mbeumo to follow him across London.
United had already registered an interest in Mbeumo, who scored 20 goals for Brentford last season but is about to enter the final year of his contract.
Brentford have the option of a further 12 months and reportedly want a figure in the region of the £62.5million (€73.5m) that United spent to sign Matheus Cunha from Wolves.
After initial talks with Brentford, United appeared in pole position to bring Mbuemo to Old Trafford, but Spurs are ready to try to reunite the Cameroon international with his old boss, it is understood.
Frank was appointed by Spurs after they sacked Ange Postecoglou last week despite Europa League glory.
