Florian Wirtz: £116m fee agreed for transfer to Liverpool

Get Involved - Add-ons and their impact on competitionpublished at 14:13 British Summer Time 13 June

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Just considering Wirtz to Liverpool deal (and others) involving add-ons for winning the Champions League. Could it get to the stage that if Liverpool were to play Leverkusen in the final, that extra money for Wirtz, along with similar outgoing payments for their players, that it might be financially more beneficial for Leverkusen to lose the final than win it? Or potentially the other way round.

FMac

Get Involved - 'Rice only £100m g not to win a trophy'published at 14:12 British Summer Time 13 June

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Declan Rice leading the poll of £100m players, but the only one on the list not to have won a trophy since his move to Arsenal?

Jonny, London

Get Involved - 'Finally, Liverpool have flexed their muscles'published at 14:10 British Summer Time 13 June

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Wirtz is an exceptional g. Finally, Liverpool have flexed their muscles in the market and brought in an absolute world beater. I'd love them to compliment that g with Barcola to really lay down the gauntlet to the rest of Europe.

Jagon

Postpublished at 14:09 British Summer Time 13 June

So, back to today's main headline - Liverpool have agreed what could turn out to be a British record £116m deal for Bayer Leverkusen's forward Florian Wirtz.

Here are some of your comments on the deal...

Q&A with BBC Sport journalists during Club World Cuppublished at 14:07 British Summer Time 13 June

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The Fifa Club World Cup is just around the corner, with the opening game of the tournament between Inter Miami and Al Ahly to kick off at 01:00 BST on Sunday.

Played under a new format, the month-long tournament will now take place once every four years rather than annually. It was previously contested by only seven clubs but will now feature 32.

Our football news reporters Nizaar Kinsella and Shamoon Hafez are going to be out in the United States covering Chelsea and Manchester City respectively during the competition, so we're giving you the chance to put your Club World Cup-related questions to them.

They could be about aims for the tournament, squad decisions, new gs, opponents, fan excitement, their own expectations - whatever's on your mind.

Get in touch during the tournament with your questions on the links below and we will get them answered...

Why can 23-year-olds play at Euro U21s?published at 14:02 British Summer Time 13 June

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BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything team have been asking for your questions…

Here’s one on the age rules at the Under-21s European Championships in Slovakia.

Why can 23-year-olds play in the Under-21s European Championships?

Players aged up to 23 years old can feature at the European Under-21 Championship, under way in Slovakia.

That is because its player registration rules are designed to ensure players can feature through an entire tournament cycle - from the start of the qualifiers through to the finals.

It means that, for the 2025 tournament, players can feature if they were born on or after 1 January 2002 - meaning they were 21 or younger at the start of the year in which qualification began.

The tournament, which started on Wednesday, consists of 16 nations, each with 23-strong squads - a total of 368 players.

Of those, 205 were aged either 22 or 23 on the opening day of the tournament - 55.7% of the total number of players. A total of 73 players were aged 23 on the tournament's opening day - 19.8%.

Postpublished at 13:58 British Summer Time 13 June

Thank you so much for your contributions today.

Even though we are between Premier League seasons, there is still plenty of live football to follow.

Find out how BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team are giving you the chance to get involved in our coverage of the Club World Cup and European Under-21 Championships...

Tottenham interested in g Brentford's Mbeumopublished at 13:54 British Summer Time 13 June

Sami Mokbel
BBC Sport Senior football correspondent

Tottenham are interested in g Brentford striker Bryan Mbeumo.

Cameroon international Mbeumo scored 20 times for the Bees in the Premier League last season.

The 25-year-old's former manager at Brentford, Thomas Frank, was named Spurs boss on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Mbeumo was the subject of a bid from Manchester United of £45m and £10m in add-ons.

However, no agreement was reached between the two clubs with the offer falling well short of Brentford's valuation.

Postpublished at 13:53 British Summer Time 13 June

Craig Nelson
BBC Sport reporter

We started the day talking about Thomas Frank's appointment as Tottenham manager before veering off to bring you the news that Liverpool have agreed a fee with Bayer Leverkusen to buy forward Florian Wirtz that could rise to a British record £116m.

Well, let's combine all those elements by bringing you a potential Tottenham transfer line before we close this page...

Get Involvedpublished at 13:48 British Summer Time 13 June

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Football and money are now so intertwined that the g of Wirtz for over £100 million will not create the stir it might have done in the past. When Alan Shearer went to Newcastle for a then record £15 million, that made headlines around the world. These days, that sum doesn't buy a decent left back! Football clubs today clearly know the price of everything, but the value of nothing, hence these crazy fees going ever upwards. The bubble will burst, eventually.

Jonathan

What 'full package' Wirtz would bring to Liverpoolpublished at 13:46 British Summer Time 13 June

Constantin Eckner
German football writer

What separates Florian Wirtz from so many others isn't just his touch or vision, it's his mentality.

Even early in his Bundesliga career, he carried himself like a leader. He's not the loudest voice in the room, but his presence is felt.

Some mistake his quiet, understated demeanour for simplicity, and Wirtz doesn't go out of his way to change that image. His team-mates, however, appreciate the way Wirtz keeps things simple.

"He's a great baller and a bit cheeky, that helps him," said Leverkusen keeper Lukas Hradecky, who once summed up the midfielder's flair with a now-iconic phrase: "Flo is doing Flo things."

"Florian is just a huge asset with his care-free nature," said former boss Hansi Flick. "He's simply an outstanding technician, loves to play, is very creative, has a good shot, runs hard and is quick. He's the full package."

Get Involved - Can you argue £100m is too much?published at 13:37 British Summer Time 13 June

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I have no doubt that senior players at Liverpool won’t let standards slip so Wirtz will only get better. As for the money, if we have him for potentially 10 years and he brings much success and trophies could you really argue that £100m is too much?

Oliver

'Looks like there's a shift in Liverpool's approach'published at 13:34 British Summer Time 13 June

Fara Williams
Former Arsenal midfielder for BBC Sport

g Florian Wirtz for such a large fee I feel would mark a sea change for Liverpool.

Fans would argue that they rarely invest big money into gs and even the Mohamed Salah contract situation came down to salary. It is stark if you think how long that and Virgil van Dijk's deal took to resolve - it was an issue of finances.

With Trent Alexander-Arnold going, if they had lost all three, that would have been most of the spine of the team gone, so it is great that they are showing the ambition after winning the league to really kick on and establish themselves as a side to compete for the title year on year.

After they won the title five years ago, they did not really push on from that. They did not really show the ambition they probably should have in order to carry on winning or at least competing up there every year.

It looks like there has been a shift in their approach to it.

Liverpool lift the Premier League trophy

Poll: Which £100m+ Premier League g is the best value?published at 13:28 British Summer Time 13 June

Anon making reference there to the players bought by British clubs for £100m+.

There is a list at the top of this page and you can choose the one you believe represented the best value for money.

Arsenal's purchase of West Ham midfielder Declan Rice is currently leading the way with 54%.

Florian Wirtz, whose bumper fee has been agreed but the deal is yet to go through, is in second place on 38%.

Have your say now by taking part in the poll.

Get Involved - Will Wirtz list of £100m flops?published at 13:25 British Summer Time 13 June

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Let's hope Wirtz doesn't flop like all the others on the £100m list and he wins something and is still of value in three-years' time.

Anon

How do add-ons work?published at 13:20 British Summer Time 13 June

Ask Me Anything

BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything team have been asking for your questions…

Here’s one on transfers, answered by BBC Sport's chief football news reporter Simon Stone.

How do add-ons work in football transfers?

Liverpool have agreed a deal worth up to £116m for forward Florian Wirtz - but it is still not entirely clear when the transfer would become a British record.

The basic fee is £100m and the transfer includes add-ons of £16m. These payments are often complex and usually kept secret.

Add-ons are often performance-based and can include things like appearances, goals and winning trophies.

An extreme example of this is the add-on in Anthony Martial's move to Manchester United, where Monaco would have been entitled to extra money if Martial had won the Ballon d'Or.

Get Involved - 'Who won the league this season">WhatsApp 03301231826, text 81111 (UK only, standard rates apply)

Mark, Blackpool: Not sure what Keith @11:33 means by Liverpool having to spend big to keep up with the likes of Chelsea, City and United. Who won the league this season? And who finished 15th?!

Last month Manchester City cooled their interest in Florian Wirtz due to the soaring costs of any deal for the 22-year-old, BBC Sport understands.

The midfielder has also been linked with Bayern Munich.

German football expert Constantin Eckner told BBC Sport he believes Wirtz is choosing Liverpool over Bayern Munich because he will be the star playmaker at the club.

Snapshot of Wirtz's statspublished at 13:09 British Summer Time 13 June

Why have Liverpool agreed to pay a club-record fee for Florian Wirtz?

Here are the 22-year-old's key stats for club and country:

Wirtz has scored 57 goals in 197 games for Bayern Leverkusen

He has also ed 65 assists for the Bundesliga side
The young forward also has seven goals in 31 appearances for
He was a regular starter at Euro 2024, aged just 20

Honours

German Cup - 2024
Bundesliga - 2024
German Super Cup - 2024
Under-21s Euros - 2021