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Florian Wirtz and his transfer to Liverpool are is growing to become the worst kept secret of the summer window so far.

Bayer Leverkusen values their 22-year-old star at €150 million (£126 million), with Liverpool’s latest €130 million (£109 million) bid rejected.

Personal terms with Wirtz are reportedly agreed, including a five-year contract, but structural disagreements over payment timelines and add-ons persist

The German will be among the highest earners at the club, just behind Mohamed Salah at between 20-22 million euros per year.

It’s clear Bayer Leverkusen aim to extract maximum value for their 22-year-old talisman, and rightfully so as he is a generational talent.

A crucial element of this transfer is the allocation of training compensation.

Under FIFA rules, five percent of the total transfer fee must be distributed among the clubs that contributed to the player’s development between the ages of 12 and 23.

For Florian Wirtz, who left 1?

FC Köln for Bayer Leverkusen in January 2020 at just 16 years old, which means his former club will benefit financially.

It forms part of FIFA’s solidarity contribution mechanism, which mandates that 5% of any transfer fee be distributed to clubs involved in a player’s development between ages 12 and 23.

This rule applies regardless of the player’s age at transfer, distinguishing it from training compensation (which ceases at 23

And it seems his boyhood club are likewise wanting to net themselves a big pay day.

BILD have reported that Köln are now pushing to receive even more in the deal:

“The transfer of Florian Wirtz could bring in a transfer fee of up to €150m – FC Köln will receive a minimum of around €3.2m from it due to the FIFA solidarity mechanism.”

“Köln are currently trying to argue that they’d be owed around €2.5m more than that, up to €5.7m.”

This follows a trend in mega transfers.

When Jude Bellingham transferred from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid in 2023 for a base fee of €103 million, his former club Birmingham City benefited significantly through FIFA’s solidarity mechanism – receiving €6.18 million.

The buying club would be typically be responsible for paying these solidarity contributions.

This could also be one of a number of reasons why the Wirtz negotiations appear to be stalling.

Read More: Luis Diaz admits to discussions with other clubs

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