Liverpool broke the British record to sign Florian Wirtz for a fee of up to £116 million – but where does it rank in the most expensive transfers ever?
Wirtz has swapped Bayer Leverkusen for Liverpool in a deal worth an initial £100 million rising to £116 million inclusive of add-ons.
It makes the 22-year-old the most expensive player in the club’s history and, if all bonuses are paid, would break the British transfer record.
Liverpool’s previous record signing was Darwin Nunez, whose move from Benfica in 2022 came at a cost of up to £85 million, while Virgil van Dijk (£75m), Alisson (£65m) and Dominik Szoboszlai (£60m) make up the top five.
That the club were willing to shatter their record outlay for Wirtz is a signal of their belief in a player who can transform Arne Slot‘s side.
The £116 million package for Wirtz is the sixth-most expensive transfer in the history of football.
The 10 biggest transfer fees of all time
1. Neymar (£200 million) – Barcelona to PSG, 2017
2. Kylian Mbappe (£163 million) – Monaco to PSG, 2018
3. Philippe Coutinho (£142 million) – Liverpool to Barcelona, 2018
4. Ousmane Dembele (£135.5 million) – Dortmund to Barcelona, 2017
5. Eden Hazard (£130 million) – Chelsea to Real Madrid, 2019
6. Florian Wirtz (£116 million) – Leverkusen to Liverpool, 2025
7. Moises Caicedo (£115 million) – Brighton to Chelsea, 2024
8. Jude Bellingham (£115 million) – Dortmund to Real Madrid, 2023
9. Joao Felix (£112.9 million) – Benfica to Atletico Madrid, 2019
10. Antoine Griezmann (£107 million) – Atletico Madrid to Barcelona, 2019
* All transfer fees including add-ons
Of those top 10 deals it is telling that all but three involve clubs from Spain, with Barcelona (three) and Real Madrid (two) responsible for half of the biggest outlays.
The only all-Premier League transfer on the list comes with Moises Caicedo’s then-British record £115 million move from Brighton to Chelsea – which Liverpool also attempted for £111 million – with the Wirtz deal the only other to an English club.
Often there is a domino effect involved, such as with Neymar’s world-record £200 million move to Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona‘s subsequent £142 million signing of Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool.
Leverkusen are unlikely to put the entire Wirtz fee towards one blockbuster signing, however, with the Bundesliga club expected to invest in their wider squad.
That was also the case upon Liverpool selling Coutinho in 2018, with the funds brought in financing the arrivals of both Alisson and Virgil van Dijk.
Interestingly it’s less than 50-50 in terms of success rate for those transfers in the all-time top 10 – Liverpool will be hoping Wirtz can defy that trend.
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