Tag: Liverpool

Liverpool have agreed a club-record deal worth up to £116 million ($157 million) to sign attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, it was widely reported on Friday.

British media reported that the Premier League champions would pay an initial £100 million, comfortably surpassing their own record outlay, but the performance-related add-ons, if achieved, would make it a potential British record.

Reports in Germany suggested the potential fee could rise to 150 million euros (£127 million, $172 million).

Liverpool’s total spend on the 22-year-old Germany international could surpass the £115 million Chelsea agreed to pay Brighton in 2023 for Moises Caicedo, who turned down Anfield.

Midfielder Caicedo cost Chelsea an initial £100 million fee, which could rise to £115 million.

Striker Darwin Nunez was Liverpool’s previous record signing in 2022, although they have not paid the full £85 million as he has not met all the requirements for certain add-ons to be due.

Manchester City had been keen on Wirtz but pulled out, reportedly due to the spiralling costs of the whole package.

Wirtz has been hailed as one of the “best in the world” by former Bayer Leverkusen coach and ex-Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, who is the new boss of Real Madrid.

After largely keeping their powder dry in the transfer market during Arne Slot’s first season in charge, the Reds are splashing out to strengthen a side that romped to a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title.

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Wirtz’s Leverkusen teammate Jeremie Frimpong has already joined Liverpool, while a deal for Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez is understood to be well-advanced.

Wirtz was played a crucial role in Leverkusen’s greatest season as they claimed a first-ever Bundesliga title and the German Cup in 2023/24 without losing a single game under Alonso.

Their only defeat that season, during which Wirtz was crowned Bundesliga player of the year, came in the Europa League final to Atalanta, denying the Werkself a memorable treble.

Bayern Munich restored their grip on the German game last season, with Leverkusen a distant second, and Wirtz is joining an exodus from the BayArena.

Where Liverpool’s record signing fits into Slot’s plans remains to be seen.

Wirtz largely played behind a central striker at Leverkusen and has operated from a wider role for Germany.

A return of 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 games for Leverkusen is evidence that he carries a threat both as a creator and a goalscorer.

Liverpool are already blessed with an abundance of forward options, with Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo all offering a goal threat.

However, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Federico Chiesa now face even stiffer competition and Liverpool might sell to free up further transfer resources, with suggestions they could sign a specialist striker.

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Real Madrid have signed defender Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool on a deal until 2031, the Spanish giants said on Friday.

The 26-year-old England international’s contract at Anfield was drawing to an end, but Madrid paid a fee to bring him in earlier so he could play in the Club World Cup.

Right-back Alexander-Arnold, who has just won the Premier League title with Liverpool, came through the academy of his boyhood club and won the Champions League in 2019.

He also won the Premier League in 2020 and made 352 appearances for the club.

The defender joins former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid, with the Spaniard appointed as their new coach to replace Carlo Ancelotti.

Alexander-Arnold’s close connections to Liverpool meant that his announcement that he was leaving the club was viewed with disgust by some supporters, and he was booed in the penultimate match of the season.

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But after club figures, including former manager Jurgen Klopp and Mohamed Salah, urged fans to remember the contribution he has made to Liverpool’s success over the last six years, he was roundly cheered when he lifted the Premier League trophy at Anfield last Sunday.

The defender joins a Real Madrid side which failed to win a major trophy this season.

Alexander-Arnold has been criticised for his defensive concentration at times, but brings supreme passing vision and attacking edge down the right flank.

Real Madrid have struggled at right-back this season with Dani Carvajal recovering from a long-term knee injury and winger Lucas Vázquez enduring a torrid time there out of position.

Alexander-Arnold could make his Real Madrid debut when they face Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal in their opening Club World Cup match on June 18 in Miami.

Real Madrid have also signed Spanish centre-back Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth as they look to bolster a back-line which was ravaged by injury this season.

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Mohamed Salah has been voted Premier League player of the season for the second time after inspiring Liverpool’s march to a record-equalling 20th English title.

Salah earned the prize after scoring 28 league goals — five more than anyone else — and producing 18 assists for Liverpool so far this term.

Heading into Sunday’s final game against FA Cup winners Crystal Palace, the 32-year-old Egyptian superstar is two assists off the single-season record held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.

This award is decided after votes from the public are combined with those from a panel of football experts. He also won it in the 2017-18 campaign.

He has broken the run of Manchester City players winning the award for the past four seasons.

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Salah’s teammate Virgil van Dijk was the last non-City player to win the award in 2018/19.

Van Dijk, who like Salah signed a new contract with Liverpool earlier in the campaign, was one of the players Salah beat in the voting.

The others were Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, Arsenal’s Declan Rice, Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, Brentford talisman Bryan Mbeumo, and Chris Wood of Nottingham Forest.

Earlier this month, Mohamed Salah was named the Football Writers’ Association player of the year, securing almost 90 percent of the votes, marking the biggest winning margin this century.

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Mohamed Salah has slammed “harsh” Liverpool fans for booing Trent Alexander-Arnold in his first appearance after announcing he will leave the Premier League champions at the end of the season.

Alexander-Arnold is widely expected to join Real Madrid once his contract expires in June.

The England right-back, who revealed his decision to quit his boyhood club last week, was jeered by Liverpool supporters when he came on as a second-half substitute in Sunday’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal at Anfield.

Salah said on Friday that he was saddened by the taunts aimed at Alexander-Arnold, who has two games left as a Liverpool player against Brighton on Monday and Crystal Palace on May 25.

“Absolutely. I was surprised because this is not how we act as Liverpool fans,” the Egypt forward told Gary Neville in a Sky Sports interview.

“I think somehow the fans were being harsh with him. I think he didn’t deserve it at the time, he deserved the fans to treat him the best way possible because he gave it all to the fans.”

Mohamed Salah was also involved in a prolonged contract saga this season, but eventually committed his future to the Reds by signing a new two-year deal.

Calling for Liverpool fans to give Alexander-Arnold a more respectful farewell in his last two games, Salah said: “Imagine someone who gives you his all for 20 years. It shouldn’t be like this.

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“I hope that will change next game, against Brighton or in the last game of the season, because he deserves the farewell.”

Liverpool-born Alexander-Arnold, who made his first-team debut in 2016, has made 353 senior appearances for Liverpool in all competitions, scoring 23 goals.

The 26-year-old has won two Premier League titles, the Champions League, the FA Cup and the League Cup with the Reds.

Salah admitted it will be emotional to say goodbye to one of his close friends when the season ends.

“I told him yesterday don’t give me eye contact in your farewell. I really love him. I think he deserves the best farewell leaving the club,” he said.

“He has done a lot for the city and done a lot for the club and he’s one of probably the best players in the club’s history. He gave it all.

“I think he needed a new challenge. He spoke to me about it. It’s his decision for sure. He’s 25, 26 years old and won it all twice or three times. What more can he have done?”

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Mohamed Salah won the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year award for the third time on Friday after inspiring Liverpool’s march to a record-equalling 20th English title.

Salah earned the prize after scoring 28 goals and producing 18 assists for Liverpool in the Premier League this season.

The Egypt forward broke the record for the most goal involvements in a 38-game Premier League campaign as Arne Slot’s side romped to their first title since 2020.

Mohamed Salah secured almost 90 per cent of the football writers’ votes, marking the biggest winning margin this century.

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Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk came second in the contest, with Newcastle striker Alexander Isak third and Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice fourth.

Mohamed Salah, who was previously given the award in 2017-18 and 2021-22, is now level with former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry as the only players to win it three times.

The 32-year-old recently ended speculation over his future by signing a new two-year contract to stay at Anfield until 2027.

Salah’s decision to commit to Liverpool will make them favourites to win a record 21st title next season as they look to move ahead of Manchester United as England’s most successful top-flight club.

Alessia Russo became the second Arsenal player to land the women’s award as the striker finished ahead of last year’s winner Khadija Shaw.

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Liverpool demolished Tottenham 5-1 to clinch the Premier League title at an impassioned Anfield on Sunday, sealing a record-equalling 20th English top-flight crown.

Arne Slot’s men stormed back after conceding a surprise early goal to dominate the match, feeding off the crackling energy from the 60,000-plus crowd.

Liverpool, who can no longer be caught by second-placed Arsenal, are now level with bitter rivals Manchester United as the joint-most successful club in English top-flight history.

It is just their second title of the Premier League era and the first they have celebrated in front of fans since 1990 — their 2020 triumph came at a near-empty stadium due to Covid restrictions.

Slot, who is in his first season in English football, said he had built on solid foundations left by Jurgen Klopp, who departed last year after a successful nine-year reign.

“Almost the whole season we were on top of the league and had a team that could win it,” he told Sky Sports. “We know how tough the Premier League is, but we always had the belief we could win it.”

“The work Jurgen (Klopp) and (assistant) Pep (Lijnders) left, the culture, work-rate, quality, was outstanding. We started (the season) really well and maybe it helped that (Manchester) City had a difficult spell that they have not had in five years.

“When the season started, we would have been happy with top four. But I don’t think that is fair to the players as they are much better than that, and they have shown it this season.”

Slot’s men started on the front foot at an expectant Anfield after a stirring rendition of club anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” in the warm spring sunshine, but they were rocked by an early goal from Tottenham’s Dominic Solanke.

However, Liverpool barely blinked and roared back with a Luis Diaz tap-in and a screamer from Alexis Mac Allister.

Now the party was well and truly started, and Cody Gakpo made it 3-1, slamming a shot into the bottom corner after a much-changed Spurs team failed to clear.

The Liverpool fans ran through their full repertoire of songs as their team pushed for a fourth goal in the second half.

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Top-scorer Mohamed Salah scored the goal the crowd craved, collecting Dominik Szoboszlai’s pass before cutting in and blasting his shot into the bottom corner.

Liverpool had a fifth when Spurs defender Destiny Udogie poked the ball past his own goalkeeper from close range with 21 minutes to go.

As the game went into added time the club’s anthem rang out again as scarves were held aloft and the final whistle elicited a thunderous roar.

The win leaves Liverpool on 82 points, 15 clear of nearest challengers Arsenal with just four games remaining.

Tottenham are a miserable 16th in the Premier League table after their 19th defeat of the season, putting manager Ange Postecoglou under enormous pressure.

Tens of thousands of fans swarmed around Anfield in the build-up to kick-off in anticipation of Liverpool’s coronation, setting off flares as the home team bus arrived.

Flags and scarves saying “Liverpool 20-time Champions” were on sale from stalls outside the ground.

At the start of the campaign, Pep Guardiola’s City were favourites to extend their dynastic Premier League reign and make it five titles in a row but their form collapsed.

Arsenal emerged as Liverpool’s closest challengers, but they drew too many games, failing to take advantage of the rare slip-ups from Slot’s team.

It was feared the club’s players would need time to adapt to the methods of Slot but the former Feyenoord boss has sailed serenely through the season despite relentless speculation over the futures of three of his biggest stars — Salah, captain Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Both Salah and Van Dijk have now signed two-year extensions, though England defender Alexander-Arnold is believed likely to be on the verge of a move to Real Madrid.

“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we are truly deserved champions of England,” said Van Dijk. “The most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this.”

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Liverpool manager Arne Slot believes maintaining the squad that is romping towards the Premier League title is more important than major new signings.

The Reds’ plans for next season have been boosted by Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk signing new deals to remain at Anfield over the past week.

Trent Alexander-Arnold is still reportedly set to join Real Madrid on a free transfer when his deal expires at the end of the season.

Van Dijk said ahead of agreeing his new contract that he expects a “big summer” in the transfer market from the Reds.

Slot’s only signing in his first year in charge was Federico Chiesa, who has played a peripheral role. But with Liverpool 13 points clear at the top of the Premier League, the Dutchman is content with the squad he has at his disposal.

“Let’s see what the rest of the summer will bring, but it would be strange for me to say now I am not happy with the team because I’ve said this for a year, we are happy with the team we are having,” Arne Slot said on Friday.

“Maybe if we can keep that team, it will already be a big summer.

“I think the core of the team you want to keep as long as you can together, as long as they are performing in the best possible way, but it is also, in general, good to have some new energy in and around the place with one or two players.

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“But it isn’t really a necessity when you look at the quality we have and the quality of the season we have had.”

Liverpool could seal the title as soon as Sunday if they win at Leicester and Arsenal lose away to Ipswich.

Alexander-Arnold is back in contention to feature after returning to training following an ankle injury.

Slot hailed the right-back’s “incredible” quality and refused to give up hope of retaining the England international.

“The moment he is on the pitch, he shows me what a great player he is, and he has shown how hard he is trying to achieve our goals this season,” added Slot.

“The fans and everyone who watched football for the last five, six, seven years know he is an incredible full-back and has been an incredible full-back for this football club.

“Let’s see what the future brings.”

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Liverpool are making progress on talks over a new contract for Mohamed Salah, and the Premier League leaders are increasingly confident he will stay at Anfield next season, according to reports on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old Egypt international, along with Liverpool teammates Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, is out of contract at the end of this season.

While Alexander-Arnold has been linked strongly with a free transfer to Real Madrid, Van Dijk said after Sunday’s 3-2 loss to Fulham that negotiations were progressing over a much-discussed new deal for the club captain.

It is understood that no agreement has yet been struck, but Salah and Van Dijk are optimistic that they will extend their contracts.

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Salah is the top scorer in the Premier League this season with 27 goals and has netted 243 times in 394 appearances for the Reds since joining the club from Roma in 2017.

He has won the Champions League with Liverpool and helped the club end a 30-year English title drought in 2020, lifting eight trophies in total during his time on Merseyside.

The two-time African Footballer of the Year has been linked with a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia but has always made it clear his preferred option was to remain at Liverpool.

In November, Mohamed Salah said he was “probably more out than in” at Liverpool before suggesting a deal was “far away” a month later.

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has taunted Premier League leaders Liverpool over their failure to match his side’s record 100-point tally.

Guardiola’s troubled side are trailing 16 points behind Liverpool after their bid for a fifth successive English crown collapsed in astonishing fashion.

Liverpool are seven points clear of second-placed Arsenal as they chase a 20th title, which would equal Manchester United’s record.

But even if Arne Slot’s men go on to secure the trophy, they now cannot match the record points total set when City won the first of Guardiola’s six titles in 2017-18.

Responding to criticism of City’s spluttering dynasty after Tuesday’s 3-2 home defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League play-off round first leg, Guardiola took a tetchy swipe at Liverpool.

“We took all the records in England. Who would do 100 points now in modern football? I’m waiting,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.

“Or four in a row? I’m waiting – with clubs like Bournemouth, Fulham and Wolves that you have to play.

“The standards, we dictated. Have you seen Liverpool this season? They cannot do 100 points already – 99 but not 100.”

While Liverpool may not surpass fifth-placed City’s record mark, Guardiola accepts his team have fallen behind their rivals this season.

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“I asked ‘Gundo’ (Ilkay Gundogan) yesterday, ‘two years ago you were here, you were one year in Barcelona and you come back here, did you see changes in the Premier League?’,” said Guardiola, whose team host top four rivals Newcastle on Saturday.

“He said massively, the difference was unbelievable. It’s the truth. The teams are much, much, much better in all departments. People prepare so well.

“We cannot do it for the (injury) problems we’ve had. There are a lot of players, with the amount of minutes they have had, who are so tired, emotionally as well.

“But guys, we deserve to have a bad season. We deserve not to be like we were. They are human beings, it can happen. We weren’t consistent and we haven’t had the players at their best.

“It’s the first time that me and many of the players have lived this position but we have to accept it (and recognise) what happened in the past was not normal.”

Pep Guardiola believes the difference from previous successful seasons is that Manchester City are no longer making the most of their dominance of possession.

“I accept when the opponents have the ball, I’m going to suffer,” he said.

“But now we are suffering when we have the ball. It never happened before and, (right) now, I cannot change it. We are suffering because we are human beings.”

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Mohamed Salah helped Liverpool to stay perfect in the Champions League on Tuesday while holders Real Madrid bounced back from their defeat at Anfield to topple in-form Italians Atalanta.

Elsewhere, struggling Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) gained a vital win at Salzburg, while Bayer Leverkusen edged Inter Milan to move second.

Aston Villa, in their first appearance in the continent’s elite club competition for 41 years, maintained their bright progress beating Leipzig 3-2 to sit third.

The first eight teams qualify directly for the last 16 with those placed ninth to 24 entering a play-off round.

In Spain, Salah’s 63rd-minute penalty proved decisive against dogged debutants Girona to extend the Premier League leaders’ record to six from six in the revamped format of Europe’s flagship club competition.

Under new coach Arne Slot Liverpool are virtually assured a place in the last 16.

“If you ask me about all six games, I’m really pleased with all the results… (but) I’m far from pleased about the performance tonight,” Slot told reporters in Girona.

“(We had) hardly any control at all over the game, maybe the second half was a bit better but then I’m trying to be positive.”

Mohamed Salah sent Paulo Gazzaniga the wrong way to net his 50th Champions League goal, pulling the Egyptian level with Filippo Inzaghi as the 10th-highest goalscorer of all time in the competition.

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The winger is out of contract at the end of the season but his 16 goals across all competitions have been essential in Liverpool’s superb first half of the season.

While Liverpool are sitting pretty with two league phase rounds to come early next year, kings of Europe Real Madrid, beaten 2-0 by Liverpool last time out, have work to do to ensure their progress into the knockout phase.

Kylian Mbappe gave Real a 10th-minute lead before hobbling off injured in Atalanta, his strike was cancelled out by Charles de Ketelaere’s penalty in first-half additional time.

Real coach Carlo Ancelotti started Vinicius Junior for the first time since a hamstring problem last month. The Brazilian had Real back on top before the hour, with Jude Bellingham also on the scoresheet for a 3-2 win over the Serie A leaders.

The hard-fought victory moved Real up to 18th on nine points and will have helped to settle any nerves at the 15-time European champions ahead of games against Salzburg and Brest in January.

PSG put the wheels back on their stuttering campaign with a much-needed 3-0 defeat on the road at Salzburg.

The French champions went into this encounter in the 25th with just four points and three goals scored after five matches.

They approach their last two league outings in provisional 24th – the final berth for the playoffs ahead of Wednesday’s games.

Bayern swept aside Ukraine side Shakhtar Donetsk in Gelsenkirchen 5-1. Fellow Bundesliga giants Leverkusen became the first team to score against Inter in this year’s competition in a 1-0 win that lifted them five points adrift of Liverpool at the top of the league.

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