Well, let’s start with the developing story surrounding Florian Wirtz and the process of him formally becoming a Liverpool player has moved a step closer. Michael, has it not today? Bring us up to date.
Absolutely, yes, it is moving closer and he’s expected to have his medical on Friday and he’s going to fly into the UK later this week and those tests will be done around Friday. He’s coming back from his well-earned pre-season, post-season holiday.
Remember, they’ve agreed a £116.5 million deal with Bayer Leverkusen, £100 million payment up front plus £16.5 million in potential add-ons. It’s a very, very, very exciting transfer for Liverpool Football Club.
I know we’ve talked about it’s a lot of money, Liverpool are spending a lot of money, but let’s be honest, they didn’t spend a lot last summer and I think Arneslott has more than earned the right to make it a new Liverpool. So to reiterate, Florian Wirtz expected to have his Liverpool medical, Liverpool fans, Friday.
And Mark, given, you know, it’s a big, big financial deal and so often in these cases, these become sagas, don’t they? They go on for weeks and weeks and we’re talking about them for the whole of the summer window. Given the fact they’ve beaten off Manchester City and Bayern Munich to sign Wirtz, it seems, this process seems to have been relatively seamless.
Yeah, I’ve been impressed with the way Liverpool have operated so far in this summer’s window. They’ve clearly identified the players that they want to strengthen the side and they’ve gone out and got them nice and early. Now, teams that operate quickly often get the business done nice and smartly.
They’ve got players that they’ve targeted. They don’t have to go through long, drawn out sagas and negotiations. They just get it done, get the players in and it means that they can relax. And depending on what happens elsewhere in the window, the market forces are not going to affect them.
So, for example, the benchmark for a young, exciting European midfielder, Florian Wirtz, is now £100 million plus. Now, if you’re going to sign a player right now, but you’re looking at that going, well, Liverpool have paid that, so this is what we want, then you’re in trouble.
Whereas Liverpool have just gone and paid what they’re comfortable paying. There are a lot of add-ons and that’s important to point out. The £16.5 million that are in add-ons are dependent on Liverpool’s success. So, if Liverpool can win multiple trophies and Florian Wirtz is at the heart of it, therefore Liverpool don’t mind paying that extra money to Bayer Leverkusen.
What you’ve got at Liverpool now is a really good trio of people at the top of the ship:
- Arne Slott, the head coach,
- Michael Edwards representing FSG,
- Richard Hughes, the sporting director.
Now, I remember Michael Edwards, I actually applied to work for him when he was an analyst, the head analyst at Portsmouth under Harry Redknapp. Incidentally, I didn’t get the job. But he’s been in football a long time. Richard Hughes played in the Premier League, 15 years’ experience as a sporting director at Bournemouth, from League One right the way through to the Premier League.
And Arne Slott, an experienced head coach as well. So, you’ve got people that are all on the same page. Liverpool are incredibly well run. They’re very targeted with the business they want to do. Yes, they didn’t do anything last summer, but they knew that what they had in the building was a good benchmark to go from.
They knew that Jurgen Klopp had left a successful squad, lots of talented youngsters and some real quality at the highest level there. They’ve just allowed that to develop. Now they’ve got a real idea about where they can improve. And that’s exactly what they’ve done at the start of this window.
How differently life could have turned out if you’d got the job at Portsmouth, eh? I might not be sat here. It won’t be Liverpool. It won’t be, will you?
Well, listen, earlier on we got a bit more on Wurz. We spoke to the European football expert Kevin Hatchard. And he told us that Liverpool fans can expect a player who can deal with the pressure of what is such a huge transfer fee.
Yeah, I do think he can deal with the pressure because he’s dealt with that kind of expectation since he burst onto the scene. He was seen as a rising star in German football and he started delivering pretty much from the get-go. He became the youngest ever scorer in Bundesliga history at the time when he scored at 17 against Bayern.
So already rising to the big occasion when he was pushing for Bayer Leverkusen’s first ever Bundesliga title, he delivered. I mean, that goal against Werder Bremen was part of a hat-trick, his first ever senior hat-trick. And that was the game that clinched the title for Bayer Leverkusen.
So when the pressure’s on, he tends to deliver, he tends to step up. So there’s nothing in his history that would suggest that he’d be really worried or nervous about making this move. Yeah, he can handle the pressure. That sounds good, I’m sure, to Liverpool fans.
We’ve taken a closer look at what Liverpool are getting in Florian Wurz, Mark, and his attributes and the scouting report which focused on his performances lastseason. What can Liverpool fans expect? Well, they can expect a player right at the top of his game. He may only be 22 years old, but there’s no question that he has so much to offer Liverpool. When you look at the numbers, they really do stack up at the moment.
And this looks like a lot of data and information right there, and it is. But the important thing to point out is that this is accumulated across the top five European leagues in the world. So when you look at the Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, and the Premier League, these are all numbers that are brought together. And when you see a high percentage, 99%, 98%, he is right up there. So the numbers stack up.
And you just have to look at the situation when it comes to assists. He’s in the top 1% in the top five leagues in Europe. The same with passes completed, take-ons completed, touches. And then, of course, position one in the final third. His numbers are some of the very best. And that’s one of the reasons why Liverpool have gone and spent in excess of £100 million on Florian Wirtz.
They were losing a massive player in Trent Alexander-Arnold, someone that was hugely creative, but he did it from right back. They’ve now got a more orthodox creative force, someone that can play as an 8, someone that can play as a 10, someone that can also play out wide as well. So he brings a real versatility.
But it’s those numbers, and we know that Liverpool have a data-based model when it comes to recruiting players, as well as going out and scouring the world. They do use data in their systems, and Florian Wirtz ticked all of those boxes. They’ve got someone who has good numbers, got good potential, fills the gap that they currently have. And I think it’s his technical ability, his vision, his creativity.
Those are the key things that Richard Hughes would have identified as to this is the man we need. This is someone that can really change the dynamic of our attack, because Liverpool are going to play a large number of games. They’re going to be in the Champions League, we know that. They’re also going to play in cup competitions, and they’re probably going to go deep into a lot of these cup competitions.
So they’re going to need a vast array of talent. He will fit in without question to that attack. I cannot wait to see him.
And you just have to listen to some of those Bundesliga experts. We heard from Kevin Hatchard there. We’ve spoken to Florian Plettenberg from Sky Germany. Every single person talks about this man glowingly. They clearly feel he’s got so much to offer, and I think he will, without question, be one of the leading forces, not just at Liverpool, but in European football for many years to come. And I think that’s where Liverpool have put their money and they’ve just gone, this is the right man.
When you look at the statistics there, obviously the Liverpool players he’s going to be compared to now, Jules.
Yeah. Well, because that’s the thing, isn’t it? I mean, look at these attackers they’ve already got. It’s a title-winning side, and we know about the ability of all these players. You talk about him being adaptable and you’re sure he will fit in, but do Liverpool have to change to accommodate him?
I think Liverpool will certainly have a plan in place. You don’t spend £100-plus million on one player for him to be shooed, horned into a set-up. You’re going to bring him in and go, right, how can we get the best out of you? We need to redesign our attacking force because you are going to be a key part of it.
You know what Mo Salah does, hangs out on the right-hand side, wants to cut infield, wants to score goals, can do all the things that you want. He’s one of those dynamic players that will bring that Liverpool attack to life. But this will just add a different dynamic, and I think that’s where he’ll be so intriguing as to what he’ll bring.
They’ve obviously watched a number of players. They’ve looked at various options, and without question he was the best. And a lot of people say, well, this is just Liverpool chucking loads of money at a player that may or may not be very good. Well, the data certainly suggests he’s the real deal. Liverpool don’t very often go and spend huge chunks of money on one player, but it is something that they have done in the past.
When they recognise someone that is going to completely transform that team, they’ll go and get him regardless of the price. You saw it with Virgil van Dijk, £75 million. You saw it with the goalkeeper, Alisson, £70-plus million. At the time, those were expensive deals.
They were big-money transfers, but Liverpool backed their head coach, backed their recruitment team, and said, right, that person is going to completely improve what we do in that particular area of the pitch. And this is very similar. Obviously, since Virgil and Alisson were signed, the finances have changed and they’ve got bigger.
So, therefore, it looks like an eye-watering sum of money, but actually it’s in keeping with what FSG have done in the past. They find the right player. He’s going to improve the team. Let’s go and get him.
