1 week ago
11
Liverpool delivered a immense connection of intent aft winning the Premier League rubric by signing Germany prima Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.
The transportation interest could ascent to 116 cardinal pounds ($156m), which would marque the 22-year-old Wirtz the astir costly subordinate successful the past of British football.
“I consciousness precise blessed and precise proud,” Wirtz told the authoritative Liverpool website connected Friday. “Finally, it’s done, and I was waiting for a agelong time.
“I’m truly excited to person a caller escapade successful beforehand of me. This was besides a large constituent of my thoughts: That I privation to person thing wholly new, to spell retired of the Bundesliga and to articulation the Premier League.
“I volition spot however I tin execute there. I anticipation I tin bash my best. I spoke besides with immoderate players who played there, and they told maine that it’s cleanable for maine and each transportation is perfect, you tin bask each game. I’m truly looking guardant to playing my archetypal game.”
Florian Wirtz practises his shooting during the warm-up earlier a Bayer Leverkusen lucifer successful February [Fabian Bimmer/Reuters]Liverpool, determined to support moving guardant contempt securing a record-tying 20th English top-flight title, splashed retired a nine grounds to bring successful not lone 1 of the champion players from Germany, but 1 of the apical youngsters successful the world.
Wirtz has been a cardinal first-team subordinate for Leverkusen since helium was 17. He was the outstanding attacking subordinate successful the squad that won the Bundesliga and German Cup successful 2023-24 without losing a game, and is simply a regular successful Germany’s nationalist team.
It is wherefore Liverpool was acceptable to wage a guaranteed 100 cardinal pounds ($134.4m), positive 16 cardinal pounds ($21.5m) successful imaginable add-ons. Wirtz had 2 years near connected his contract, giving Leverkusen leverage successful negotiations.
The Premier League grounds for an archetypal interest was acceptable erstwhile Chelsea signed Enzo Fernandez from Benfica for 106.7 cardinal pounds ($131.4m astatine the time) successful 2023, earlier the London nine agreed to wage up to 115 cardinal pounds ($146m astatine the time) for midfielder Moises Caicedo from Brighton aboriginal that year.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot arrived past summertime and signed conscionable 1 outfield subordinate — guardant Federico Chiesa — for the 2024-25 season.
Chiesa hardly played and the Reds won the league by 10 points, aft which Slot and immoderate of his players — including Virgil van Dijk — spoke astir determination being large plans for this transportation window.
Having already signed right-wing backmost Jeremie Frimpong from Leverkusen for a reported 35 to 40 cardinal euros ($39.7 cardinal to $45.4 million), Liverpool has returned to the German nine to instrumentality Wirtz, who rejected an accidental to articulation Bayern Munich — a Bundesliga rival which has agelong pursued him.
One obstacle to that determination was the size of the interest Leverkusen wanted. Another was interest implicit however Wirtz mightiness acceptable into the aforesaid lineup arsenic Jamal Musiala, Germany’s different standout young attacking midfielder.
Losing Wirtz leaves Leverkusen and its caller coach, Erik 10 Hag with an adjacent bigger rebuild pursuing the departure of Xabi Alonso for Real Madrid.
Just aft his 17th birthday, Wirtz became the youngest subordinate successful Leverkusen’s past erstwhile helium made his debut against Werder Bremen successful May 2020, successful an bare stadium astatine the tallness of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A period later, helium was the youngest subordinate to people successful Bundesliga history, though that grounds has since been toppled.
Wirtz’s versatile attacking midfield play was a captious constituent successful Alonso transforming Leverkusen into a squad that could triumph the Bundesliga and German Cup without losing a game.
He and Alonso stayed for different sometimes-disappointing season, which ended with 2nd spot to Bayern successful the league and a nonaccomplishment to Bayern successful the Champions League circular of 16.
Wirtz showed helium tin woody with adversity erstwhile a cruciate ligament teardrop successful his genu ruled him retired for astir each of 2022, including Alonso’s archetypal games arsenic coach, earlier helium returned to powerfulness Leverkusen to its league and cupful treble successful 2023-24.
France’s Manu Kone successful enactment with Germany’s Florian Wirtz during the 2025 Nations League third-place playoff [Heiko Becker/Reuters]Wirtz has go a captious subordinate for the German nationalist squad with 29 caps. He played each 5 of its matches astatine Euro 2024 connected location soil.
He has besides had to contend with hostility from fans of his boyhood nine Cologne, which helium near for adjacent Leverkusen astatine 16. Liverpool and Bayern were reportedly funny then, too.
Cologne claimed that woody broke an statement betwixt the clubs not to prosecute each other’s younker players. Leverkusen argued Wirtz was truthful talented that helium counted arsenic a first-team subordinate contempt his age.
Cologne and Leverkusen are hardly 10 kilometres (six miles) apart, truthful going to Liverpool volition beryllium the archetypal clip that Wirtz has moved distant from his roots.
His parents, Hans Wirtz and Karin Gross, person played a large relation successful his vocation — they were besides his agents until past twelvemonth — and helium is adjacent to his older sister Juliane, a nonrecreational subordinate for Werder Bremen successful the women’s Bundesliga.
Wirtz’s determination to crook down Bayern and the Bundesliga for Liverpool has raised immoderate eyebrows successful Germany.
“I wouldn’t person thought Florian would marque this power truthful early,” erstwhile Germany large Lothar Matthaus told broadcaster n-tv past month. “But helium wants to get retired of his comfortableness zone.”
Wirtz seems apt to slot successful arsenic the No. 10 astatine Liverpool, a much originative solution successful that relation compared with the hard-running Dominik Szoboszlai.
Whether Slot besides present pushes for a caller striker arsenic an upgrade to existent options Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez remains to beryllium seen.
Szoboszlai could driblet backmost into 1 of the 2 deeper midfield positions, competing with Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones.
Source:
Al Jazeera and quality agencies
English (US) ·