Leverkusen Reportedly Seeking Players in Liverpool Wirtz Negotiations
It’s been a little more than a week since news broke Liverpool were contenders in the Florian Wirtz sweepstakes, and the Reds have moved at pace to seize their opportunity to steal Germany’s top young footballer away from long-time favourites Bayern Munich.Wirtz is already a superstar, and it would be a shock if he doesn’t evolve into the face of the German national team over the next decade and have his name regularly in the mix for the Ballon d’Or. That’s the level of player Liverpool will sign—and that level of player costs a lot of money.A fee of €150M has regularly been floated as Leverkusen’s valuation, but nobody is certain if there’s a bit of a Bayern Tax in that number. Wirtz, after all, had seemed fated to join Bayern for at least the last two years and Leverkusen have never liked the idea of dealing him to a league rival.Now, there are some whispers that €100M would be the absolute floor of any potential deal—though expectations will still be for a final number that comes in rather higher than that. There are also whispers that a player or two heading in the other direction could help.Typically, player swaps are rare in football. Leverkusen, though, are currently facing a massive exodus of key players, with Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong joining Liverpool, Jonathan Tah moving to Bayern, and a handful of others set to leave over the next month or two.They already know they need a new starting goalkeeper, centre half, fullback, and attacking midfielder. And it’s been suggested in Germany that they hold interest in Liverpool players at those positions—a list that could include Caoimhin Kelleher, Jarell Quansah, Joe Gomez, and Harvey Elliott.While sending players in the other direction could complicate negotiations, there is a clear need for Leverkusen and expectation remains that an agreement for Wirtz will be reached relatively quickly, with all parties seeking a rapid conclusion of the blockbuster transfer.
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