Florian Wirtz has become the most expensive Liverpool player of all time, after completing his £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen.

The Reds will pay Leverkusen an initial £100m for the Germany international with a further £16m in what have been termed as 'aspirational bonuses'.

Wirtz, who had also been tracked by Bayern Munich and Manchester City, made it clear Liverpool was his preferred destination last month.

BREAKING: Florian Wirtz joins Liverpool as stunning £116m British record transfer is completed	Florian Wirtz joins Liverpool as stunning £116m British record transfer is completed	When Florian Wirtz could make Liverpool debut after stunning £116m transfer confirmed

It's understood the player's father and agent, Hans, informed the relevant parties last month, which was the catalyst for the Reds to step up their talks with Leverkusen over their crown jewel on May 23.

Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes led on the negotiations with his Leverkusen counterpart Simon Rolfes, who was in regular dialogue with managing director Fernando Carro throughout the process.

Wirtz, who has been on holiday with former Leverkusen team-mate and future Reds colleague Jeremie Frimpong, will now resume his time off before reporting for duty at the AXA Training Centre on July 7 for pre-season training.

Both players' unofficial debuts may come when Liverpool begin their pre-season schedule at Preston North End on July 13.

The huge transfer is not being viewed internally as a departure from the club's strict self-sustaining policy, imposed by owners Fenway Sports Group, but rather a transfer that has been facilitated thanks to the discipline shown since the summer transfer window of 2023.

The Reds had initially believed Wirtz would stay put in Germany and either remain a Leverkusen player or join Bayern and become the latest rising star of German football to move to Munich.

However, as the ECHO reported last month, Liverpool were ready to rival the Bundesliga giants and Pep Guardiola's City for the 22-year-old's signature and their charm offensive and the level of tactical detail explained by Arne Slot was said to have blown the player and his camp away.

It represents something of a statement signing for the Premier League champions as they go about strengthening on the back of a hugely successful campaign in Slot's first term in charge and completion of the transfer is likely to be seen as a huge feather in the cap of sporting director Hughes, whose negotiations have landed one of the most coveted young players in European football
For more news relating to Manchester City, visit our sister site City Latest Live.