By John Boston
Liverpool’s hopes of signing Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen were given a huge boost on Monday when the Bundesliga club’s sporting director Simon Rolfes confirmed that the Premier League champions have a ‘concrete interest’ in signing the Germany international.
Wirtz, 22, has emerged as a top target for Arne Slot as the Reds boss looks to refresh his Liverpool squad from a position of strength.
His Leverkusen team-mate Jeremie Frimpong flew in on Wednesday to complete the formalities of his move to Anfield, and now, according to Rolfes, the highly-rated Wirtz could soon also be wearing a red shirt.
Speaking at the unveiling of new Leverkusen coach Erik Ten Hag, Rolfes admitted: “No question there’s a lot of interest. It’s an open topic with Florian, we’ll see.
“That there’s concrete interest from Liverpool, that’s clear, but there’s nothing more to say at the moment.”
Kerkez next for Slot?
It promises to be a busy summer of ins and outs at Anfield after Slot mostly kept his transfer cheque book in his pocket last year, with little-used Italian midfielder Federico Chiesa his only major signing.
The Dutchman is also in the market for a left-back to provide competition for Scotland captain Andy Robertson, with Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez – a good friend of Dominik Szoboszlai – high on Slot’s shopping list.
The 21-year-old Hungary international enjoyed an outstanding season at the Vitality Stadium and was signed by Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes in August 2023 during his time as the Cherries’ technical director.
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Werner drops transfer hint
And Liverpool chairman Tom Werner has already hinted at more new faces in the Liverpool squad.
Speaking to the media before the Reds’ trophy parade on Monday, he said: “We go again. It never gets old, winning.
“We owe it to all of our supporters to bring back a team even better next season.”
Between the sticks, Giorgi Mamardashvili will officially become a Liverpool player on July 1 after spending last season at Valencia, and that will almost certainly hasten the departure of Alisson Becker’s deputy Caoimhin Kelleher.
Kelleher admitted after the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on Sunday: “I think I’ve said it before that I feel like I’m a number one, I think I’m good enough to play week-in week-out, and that’s what I’m looking to do.”
Other possible departures include striker Darwin Nunez, who failed to nail down a starting spot in the second half of the season, Greek left-back Kostas Tsimikas and England Under-21 midfielder Harvey Elliott.
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SportJustSport writers