Liverpool agree Milos Kerkez deal after Florian Wirtz with 'significant' Marc Guehi bid expected | OneFootball

Arne Slot’s Reds are strengthening all over the pitch ahead of Premier League title defence

Liverpool have reportedly agreed a deal with Bournemouth for Milos Kerkez having finalised the signing of Florian Wirtz, while speculation continues over a “significant” move for Marc Guehi next.

If those bonuses are met, the £116m deal would be a British record transfer, eclipsing the £115m that Chelsea paid to sign Ecuador midfielder Moises Caicedo from Brighton in August 2023.

Wirtz has been on holiday since that deal was finally agreed following weeks of negotiations, having played and scored for Germany in their recent Nations League finals campaign on home soil, in which they finished fourth.

In the bag: Liverpool have agreed a £40m deal with Bournemouth to sign Milos Kerkez

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But he arrived on Merseyside on Thursday for a medical that was completed on Friday and is believed to have penned a five-year contract until 2030 worth around £200,000 a week, with an official announcement on the way.

Wirtz becomes Liverpool’s fourth signing of a busy and unique two-window summer already, with Leverkusen team-mate Jeremie Frimpong having completed a £29.5m switch to Anfield last month as the long-term right-back successor to Trent Alexander-Arnold, who joined Real Madrid early in a £10m arrangement ahead of the Club World Cup.

Goalkeepers Giorgi Mamardashvili and Armin Pecsi have also joined from Valencia and Puskas Akademia respectively, while Alisson Becker’s long-time deputy Caoimhin Kelleher followed Alexander-Arnold out of the exit door as he joined Brentford for £18m.

New target: Liverpool are now expected to pursue the signing of Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi

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Slot has also been eager to address Liverpool’s future at left-back, with Andy Robertson entering into the last 12 months of his contract and attracting interest from the likes of Atletico Madrid.

The Reds have been locked in talks for weeks with Bournemouth over Kerkez, with multiple outlets including the BBC reporting on Friday that a £40m move has now been agreed.

The 21-year-old - an international team-mate of Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai with Hungary - is expected to travel to Merseyside next week to undergo a medical and officially sign his contract, becoming the latest high-profile departure from Bournemouth this summer after Dean Huijsen’s £50m switch to Real Madrid.

Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain are trying hard to sign Ukrainian defender Illia Zabarnyi, with interest also reported in the likes of Antoine Semenyo and Justin Kluivert.

Bournemouth have already moved to replace Kerkez, signing French left-back Adrien Truffert from Rennes in a £14.4m deal earlier this week.

Liverpool’s impressive recruitment drive looks set to continue beyond Kerkez, with The Telegraph reporting that they are expected to make a “significant” offer for Guehi, the England centre-back who captained Crystal Palace to FA Cup glory - the club’s first-ever major trophy - this season.

Guehi has only 12 months to run on his current deal at Selhurst Park and has been linked with a host of clubs again including Chelsea and Arsenal, while Newcastle saw multiple bids for his services rejected last summer.

It appears Liverpool would want to quickly use the funds gained from the sale of Jarell Quansah to sign Guehi, with the former poised to head in the opposite direction to Wirtz and Frimpong by joining Erik ten Hag’s Leverkusen in a separate deal worth in the region of £34m.

Liverpool have also been linked with strikers such as Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, with Darwin Nunez expected to leave the club this summer, along with winger Federico Chiesa and one of Robertson or back-up Kostas Tsimikas. Luis Diaz has also been subject to interest from Barcelona and clubs in Saudi Arabia.