Wirtz deal threatens 6 Liverpool players

English club Liverpool are close to completing a deal to sign German star Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen during the current summer transfer window, after convincing the player to join their ranks despite fierce competition from European giants such as Manchester City, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid. Sky Sports reported that the deal could be worth up to 126 million pounds, making it the most expensive transfer in English football history, surpassing the 115 million pound transfer of Ecuadorian Moises Caicedo to Chelsea. The British newspaper, The Mirror, indicated that the signing of Wirtz (22 years old) represents a qualitative shift for Liverpool, who won the English Premier League title this season under coach Arne Slot, who succeeded Jurgen Klopp last summer. The newspaper explained that Liverpool may be able to reduce the deal value if they succeed in convincing Bayer Leverkusen to agree to include one of their players in the deal, especially since the German club, which is negotiating to appoint Erik ten Hag as its new coach to replace Xabi Alonso, is looking for reinforcements in the goalkeeper, central defense, and attack positions. It added that Liverpool may offer players such as Caoimhin Kelleher, Joe Gomez, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota, Curtis Jones, or Harvey Elliott, whose names were linked with a possible exit during the summer transfer window, as part of the deal with Bayer Leverkusen in exchange for Florian Wirtz.