Travers Smith advises Florian Wirtz on record £116m Liverpool move

Travers Smith has landed a role on one of the summer’s biggest football deals, advising German star Florian Wirtz and his family on his record-breaking transfer to Liverpool FC.

Liverpool smashed the British transfer record to sign the 22-year-old midfielder from Bayer Leverkusen on a five-year deal worth up to £116 million, including add-ons. The initial fee is understood to be £100 million, with a further £16.5 million in potential add-ons (typically consisting of performance-related bonuses and payouts linked to team achievements).

Advising

A Travers team led by employment partner Ed Mills and tax partners-elect Elissavet Grout and Tom Margesson advised on the UK legal aspects of the transfer. The firm worked alongside Cologne-headquartered Seitz Partners on German law matters.

Travers says it has recently advised sports sector clients on a number of matters, including the acquisition of a Premier League football club, stadium and player contracts as well as a number of contractual disputes.

Inside the world of multi-million pound transfers

For more on how deals like this come together, including how transfers are structured, what can go wrong, and hotly negotiated sell-on clauses, listen to our conversation with Fulham FC General Counsel Peter Limbert on The Non-Billable Podcast.