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Germany's midfielder #17 Florian Wirtz (C) and his teammates warm up prior to the UEFA Nations League third place play-off football match between Germany and France in Stuttgart(Image: AFP)

Florian Wirtz has been selected to start for Germany in their Nations League third-place play-off against France today (Sunday) as transfer negotiations continue between Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen.

Talks are ongoing after the Reds’ latest offer worth an overall £113m, as the Bundesliga outfit hold out for more.

Wirtz, who has confirmed his desire to move to Anfield, opened the scoring for Germany in their semi-final defeat to Portugal on Wednesday night.



Following the game, the 22-year-old nodded in the mixed zone when asked if he was excited by the prospect of moving to Liverpool.

Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann has made five changes to his side for the third place play-off against France (2pm kick-off), but Wirtz is one of the six players to retain their place.

READ MORE:Florian Wirtz Liverpool transfer latest as £118m Bayer Leverkusen compromise emergesREAD MORE:Full confirmed list of Liverpool ins and outs for summer transfer window as third deal confirmed

Nagelsmann had previously confirmed that he had received no requests from clubs to rest players for the third-place play-off.

"I didn't get a message [from any club] about what I should take into consideration [regarding tomorrow's line-up] so far," he said at his pre-match press conference.

We still didn't decide everything at 100 per cent."

Consequently, Wirtz will be in action for Germany against France as Liverpool look to thrash out a deal with Bayer Leverkusen.

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It is likely that Liverpool will now have to break not only their own transfer record but the British record too to land the German playmaker, with Leverkusen braced for an improved offer from the Reds.

Liverpool had offered an initial £100m for the 22-year-old, with the additional £13m coming in performance-related add-ons.

It has now been suggested that an £118m bid would be enough to strike a deal as talks continue.

Such a bid would break the British transfer record of £115m when Chelsea signed Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer of 2023.

All parties remain confident that a deal will be struck as negotiations continue over the weekend, and personal terms will not be an issue once a fee is agreed, with Wirtz waiting the green light to fly to Merseyside for a medical once his international commitments have concluded.

While Wirtz was selected to start against France, Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has been dropped to the French bench by national team manager Didier Deschamps.

The centre-back was part of a France team beaten 5-4 by Spain in their UEFA Nations League semi-final in Stuttgart on Thursday evening.

Didier Deschamps' side were 5-1 down at one point before a late rally made the final scoreline more respectable.

But that did not spare Konate the wrath of the media with his performance being picked apart.

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Only Kylian Mbappe, Adrien Rabiot and Mike Maignan kept their places against Germany from the side that lost to Spain, as Deschamps changed the entire France back four.


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