Liverpool transfer news as Florian Wirtz details emerge and Arne Slot addresses summer plans

Liverpool transfer news as Florian Wirtz details emerge and Arne Slot addresses summer plans

Liverpool transfer news as more claims emerge surrounding Florian Wirtz and his salary at Anfield, while Arne Slot responds to a question about his summer plans.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk lifted the Premier League trophy on Sunday, and on Monday, he and his teammates will head around the city with the silverware on an open-top bus.

It won't be long, though, until Liverpool fans want an update ahead of next season. And it could be a busy summer for Arne Slot and his sporting director Richard Hughes in the transfer market.

Here is the Liverpool.com verdict on the transfer gossip to emerge around the Reds today. Florian Wirtz, of course, remains a big name among the gossip columns, with the Reds keen to snap up the $169 million (£126 million) rated playmaker.

Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)

The Reds have made contact with Bayer Leverkusen to conclude a deal for Wirtz, Liverpool.com understands.

And Sky Switzerland has now claimed that a contract offer worth up to $438k (£320k) per week, including all bonuses, has been placed on the table for the 22-year-old.

Manchester City dropped out of the race for Wirtz last week having previously been keen on him. And Bayern Munich, having initially been confident that a deal would be done, has since conceded that Wirtz is likely to end up in the Premier League.

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Bayern Munich president, Herbert Hainer, said yesterday: "Max Eberl (Bayern director of sport) informed me that Wirtz is probably leaning towards Liverpool. I can't say how things will transpire with Leverkusen."

Wirtz would be a hugely exciting addition for the Reds to really add some star quality. He has scored 16 goals and provided another 15 assists this season, with plenty of room for improvement still given his age.

Arne Slot on summer plans

Liverpool boss Arne Slot was asked about the summer during his post-match press conference on Sunday. And he was questioned specifically on whether he wanted to get players through the door early.

"We just want good players and ideally you sign them as soon as you can," he said. "But it's not always easy to sign good players, let alone to sign them early in the window.

"But this club doesn't start working from today onwards. 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."

Liverpool.com says: Signing good players is obviously important, but so is doing it early. If Liverpool can wrap up Wirtz and a couple of others well before pre-season starts, that puts them in the best possible position to hit the ground running.

Ben Doak (Liverpool)

Liverpool winger Ben Doak, who has been out on loan at Middlesbrough this season, is one option that Everton is considering ahead of the summer transfer window, according to The Telegraph. He is valued at around $41 million (£30 million).

Doak has highly rated, relatively experienced and clearly has a lot of skill, but is lacking the required end product at the moment. With Mohamed Salah to compete with on the right wing, his chances under Arne Slot are likely to be limited.

A move to a club like Everton could make sense for Doak to take the next step. Signing for the Reds' rivals, though, feels slightly unusual. Somewhere like Bournemouth or Fulham might be an easier move for him.