Category sport-news

Florian Wirtz’s sensational move from Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool on Friday was the subject of a potential Premier League record fee.

The Premier League champions will pay an initial $ 100 million ($134 million), comfortably surpassing their own record, according to reports in England.

It would become a record-breaking British company with additional £16 million in performance-related add-ons.

However, reports in Germany suggested that the fee might go as high as 130 million euros (£111 million, $149 million), with additions making it 150 million euros.

Former Leverkusen coach and ex-Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, who is now Real Madrid’s new boss, have hailed Wirtz as one of the “best in the world.”

“I’m really looking forward to a brand-new adventure ahead of me.” According to Wirtz, “I want to have something completely new, to leave the Bundesliga, and to join the Premier League,” he said on the club’s website.

We ultimately want to be successful. Since they won the Premier League last year, my goal is to win it once more and advance to the Champions League. I have a lot of ambition.”

The 22-year-old helped Leverkusen win their first-ever Bundesliga title and the German Cup in 2023/24 without losing a single game while at the club.

In the Europa League final defeat to Atalanta, Leverkusen were denied a memorable treble, which was Wirtz’ only other defeat that year, when he was named the year’s MVP.

Read more about Salah, Palmer, Rice, and other PFA Player of the Year nominees.

Last season, Leverkusen came in second place, and Bayern Munich regained control of the German game, and Wirtz is joining a frenzied departure from the BayArena.

Jeremie Frimpong, a Netherlands defender, recently made a move to Liverpool from Leverkusen.

The Reds are making a splash to help a team that won the 20th English top flight title, which was largely kept dry in Arne Slot’s first season in charge.

Milos Kerkez, a left-back from Bournemouth, is reportedly moving to Anfield in a £40 million deal.

Alexander Isak, a Newcastle striker, and Marc Guehi, a Crystal Palace defender, have also been linked with Liverpool.

It’s still to be seen how Slot’s plans integrate Wirtz’s.

He primarily played for Germany’s central striker at Leverkusen and has since expanded to include other players.

Leverkusen’s 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 games demonstrate that he poses a threat both as a creator and a goalscorer.

Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, and Cody Gakpo, all of whom offer a goal threat, are already a part of Liverpool’s abundance of forward options.

However, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez, and Federico Chiesa are now facing even more difficult competition to start in Slot’s starting lineup, which raises the possibility that Liverpool will sell some of that trio to free up additional transfer resources.

According to reports from Friday, Liverpool and Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez have agreed to sign him in a deal worth a reported £40 million ($54 million).

Before making his move to the Premier League champions, Kerkez will need to travel to Merseyside for a medical.

With his excellent form for Bournemouth, which included two goals and five assists in 38 Premier League appearances, last season, the 21-year-old caught Liverpool’s attention.

Kerkez spent time at the Vitality Stadium after being transferred from Arizona Alkmaar, according to Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes.

Read more about Salah, Palmer, Rice, and other PFA Player of the Year nominees.

Before moving to AC Milan, where he failed to make an appearance for the Serie A club, the Serbian-born Kerkez started his career at the Hungarian outfit Gyor.

He signed for Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in 2022, and he joined Bournemouth in the Premier League a year later.

With Atletico Madrid in mind, Kerkez’s impending arrival at Anfield raises questions about Andrew Robertson’s future at Liverpool.

In a busy summer transfer window, Arne Slot will make Kerkez the club’s most recent signing.

Trent Alexander-Arnold has joined Real Madrid, and the Reds have already acquired Dutch right-back Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen.

After agreeing a fee that could rise to a British record of £116 million, Liverpool are also close to signing Germany’s Florian Wirtz.

Before the official confirmation of his transfer, it is thought that Wirtz had had a medical with Liverpool on Friday.

Due to the “ongoing situation” in the Middle East, according to football officials, who moved the women’s Asian Cup qualifiers to Qatar on Friday. They were scheduled to begin the week of next week in Jordan.

After Israel and Iran launched more airstrikes against one another, the conflict is now escalating, with the risk of the United States getting involved.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced that matches from Group A qualifying matches that were scheduled for June 23 through July 5 in Amman, Jordan, have been moved to Qatar and will now take place July 7 through November.

More information about the venue and match times will be made in due course, according to the AFC.

The Women’s Asian Cup in Australia will take place in March 2026, in Group A qualifying for Jordan, Singapore, Iran, Lebanon, and Bhutan.

Read more about Chelsea’s win of the women’s FA Cup to complete the domestic triumfon.

The participating teams’ “ongoing situation in the region and logistical concerns raised by” the football association of Singapore (FAS), according to a separate statement from the association.

The winner of each of the eight qualifying groups will be able to attend the 2026 showpiece.