Arne Slot identifies first Liverpool exit immediately after Wirtz transfer

Liverpool are preparing for a busy start to the summer transfer window, with a deal for Bayer Levekusen star Florian Wirtz pending, and Arne Slot has found a way to balance the books

Liverpool will reportedly focus on selling Darwin Nunez after getting a deal over the line to sign Florian Wirtz. The Reds are in negotiations to sign Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen in what is expected to be a club-record transfer – and they are already looking at ways to recoup some money.

Arne Slot is keen to get the club’s transfer dealings done early this summer and they are poised to sign Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong from Leverkusen. Frimpong has already agreed to a £29.5million move and a five-year contract, while Liverpool are understood to have submitted an opening bid of €100m (£85m) plus add-ons for Wirtz.

Leverkusen are holding out for more and believe the 22-year-old is worth over £100m. If the German side get what they want then it would represent a club record for Liverpool, whose most expensive signing remains the £85m – made up of £64m plus add-ons – they paid Benfica for Nunez in June 2022.

Liverpool have funds available after only signing Federico Chiesa from Juventus last summer, but they will also bolster their cash by selling unwanted players. Nunez started just eight Premier League games under Slot this season and is in line to be sold this summer, having contributed just seven goals and seven assists in 47 games.

The Daily Mail reports that Liverpool are keen to find a buyer for Nunez because they want to reinvest the funds in a new striker. Atletico Madrid have been linked with a move for the Uruguay international and a deal would appear to suit all parties.

Liverpool are reportedly keen on signing Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike, but have also monitored Benjamin Sesko of RB Leipzig and Atleti’s Julian Alvarez. Ekitike, a 22-year-old France international, is valued at £84m by Frankfurt after getting 22 goals and 12 assists in 48 games across all competitions this season.

He has also been linked with Chelsea and Frankfurt sporting director Markus Krosche has admitted they may be forced to sell the youngster. "He's one of the most interesting strikers on the European market. Hugo has to decide that," the club chief told Sport 1. "I'm glad we have him. If he decides otherwise, that's our motto: If a player develops faster than us, we let him go."

Earlier in the season, Slot was forced to respond to suggestions that Nunez had been benched for financial reasons. Nunez was not being played in order to avoid triggering a further payment to Benfica of around £4.2m – something Slot rubbished.

But it seems that his time on Merseyside could be coming to an end, with Slot keen to cash in on the Uruguay international’s potential. “I don’t know exactly what is going to happen. One of the main strengths we had this season is that everybody accepted his role,” Slot said recently.

“And his role sometimes could be to start every single game, hardly be taken off, sometimes be taken off. It could be sometimes not starting every single game, sometimes not playing hardly minutes.”