ISTANBUL

Liverpool on Friday confirmed the signing of German midfielder Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen on a long-term contract, with the deal potentially reaching a British record fee of £116 million ($156 million).

This surpasses the club’s previous record transfer of £75 million paid for Virgil van Dijk in 2018.

The 22-year-old attacking midfielder passed his medical and agreed on personal terms to become Liverpool’s latest summer signing under Arne Slot, then club’s new manager.

Shortly after sealing the move, Wirtz told Liverpool’s official website: “I'm really excited to have a new adventure in front of me. This was also a big point of my thoughts: that I want to have something completely new, to go out of the Bundesliga and to join the (English) Premier League.”

Wirtz leaves Leverkusen after 5 1/2 standout seasons. He made his senior debut in May 2020 at just 17 years old and became the youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history at the time after scoring against Bayern Munich weeks later.

Despite suffering a serious injury in 2022, which kept him sidelined for months, Wirtz returned to play a central role in Leverkusen’s historic 2023-24 campaign. The club went unbeaten in the Bundesliga, won the German Cup, and reached the UEFA Europa League final.

In 45 club appearances in the past season, the German midfielder scored 16 goals and provided 15 assists.