Liverpool Sets Transfer Fee Record With $157M Florian Wirtz Deal

The Premier League’s top team is flexing its financial might in historic fashion, again showing the power of on-field success to help fund the pursuit of more success.

Liverpool, which just clinched the 2024–25 Premier League title last month, has agreed to a transfer deal for German midfielder Florian Wirtz, most recently playing the Bundesliga’s Bayer Leverkusen, that is worth as much as £116.5 million ($157.2 million), the largest such fee in the history of British pro soccer. The agreement for the 22-year-old Wirtz includes £100 million in guaranteed money and another £16.5 million in potential bonuses. 

If those add-ons are all achieved, that would surpass Chelsea’s potential payout of £115 million in 2023 for Brighton & Cove midfielder Moisés Caicedo. Wirtz has been a key cog for Bayer Leverkusen since he was 17. 

The Fenway Sports Group–owned Liverpool can make such an unprecedented outlay as it enjoys the fiscal fruits of its recent success. Even before winning the most recent Premier League title, the club reported record revenue of $832 million for the fiscal year that ended May 31, 2024, up by 3%. Losses during that year rose to more than $77 million, but that is not expected to be a sustained situation as the club looks to use the title to accelerate already-growing international fandom, sponsorship and ticket sales, and the companion Liverpool women’s team, also owned by FSG. 

“We’re already looking to the future and working out how we can best maximize this success to continue our commercial growth and support further on-pitch success,” Liverpool CCO Ben Latty told The Financial Times last month.

Ticket Drama

Manchester City, whose four-year run of Premier League titles was stopped by Liverpool, said Friday that it would reduce single-game matchday ticket prices for the upcoming 2025–26 season, and have held season-ticket prices steady. The decision arrives after a series of protests by fans over the past two years, centered in part around Manchester City, and continued discussions between the club and official supporter groups.

The City Football Group–owned club, however, is still something of an outlier across the Premier League. After 19 of 20 Premier League clubs raised prices for the 2024–25 season, helping spark the #StopExplotingLoyalty fan protests, 13 of the clubs have announced further hikes for the upcoming season. The latest increases will range from 3% to 14%.

“Seven top-flight clubs have announced price freezes, and we don’t believe that would have happened without fan protests,” said Football Supporters’ Association chair Tom Greatrex. “Matchgoers have had enough of inflation-busting price hikes, which are up 19% since COVID. It’s time for clubs to listen.”

The ticketing issue is once more in focus as the schedule for the upcoming Premier League season will be released June 18, to be followed by initial ticket sales for many clubs in July and the start of the season on Aug. 16.