Florian Wirtz spends time with future Liverpool teammate ahead of medical

Jeremie Frimpong and future teammate Florian Wirtz are already bonding ahead of their expected reunification at Liverpool, with Frimpong having arrived from Bayer Leverkusen in a £29.5 million ($40 million) deal.

Hot on the heels of his old pal, Wirtz is due to switch to the Premier League champions, setting up what looks to be the biggest transfer saga of the summer. Wirtz, an established German international, is set for his Anfield medical later this week after Liverpool agreed on a whopping initial fee of £116m ($136 million) – potentially inflating by a further $22 million.

Should the additional payments come into play, it will eclipse the British transfer record, currently held by Moises Caicedo's 2023 move to Chelsea for $154 million. While the red tape is yet to be finalized, with his medical scheduled for Friday, Wirtz teased Reds supporters by posting a sunny snapshot with new mate Frimpong, who shared it along with a chuffed "my boy."

With Wirtz poised to don the Liverpool shirt, the Anfield faithful can see it as a clear sign that their club means business, having outmanoeuvred a strong Bayern Munich pursuit for one of Germany's most appealing prospects, who had once seemed destined to stay within Bundesliga borders.

The decision to let Florian Wirtz leave the Bundesliga has not been well received in Germany, with even Bayern's rivals expressing disappointment.

"It's a real shame, especially for the DFL (German Football League), that a player like Florian Wirtz is disappearing from the Bundesliga," Borussia Dortmund boss Hans-Joachim Watzke lamented earlier this week.

"I wouldn't have had a problem at all if he had gone to FC Bayern. That would have been better for the Bundesliga. He could have played better with Musiala in Munich, but two such good footballers find each other anyway."

However, Wirtz's arrival at Anfield is part of Slot's ambitious summer plan as he aims to build on a successful first season which saw Liverpool clinch their 20th top-flight title. Frimpong has been brought in to fill the void left by Trent Alexander-Arnold's move to Real Madrid.

Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez is also tipped to join Liverpool, replacing Andy Robertson, while a new striker could be added to bolster their attacking options.

(Image: Getty Images)

"We just want good players and ideally you sign them as soon as you can," Slot stated before the summer transfer window opened. But it's not always easy to sign good players, let alone to sign them early in the window.

"There is so much hard work being done behind the scenes already this season to find out which targets we have and try to sign them. I have all the confidence that if we've addressed the right player that we try to sign that player.

"But let's see when that's going to happen and if that's going to happen because I'm very happy with the squad we already have. Radical changes you will probably not see because that would be a bit weird if you won the league."

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