Former Liverpool defender Markus Babbel believes that, despite the high transfer fee, Florian Wirtz offers the Reds great value even with the 22-year-old German playmaker potentially becoming a British record signing
Former Liverpool defender Markus Babbel believes Florian Wirtz is the signing of the summer, despite the enormous fee it took to prise him away from Bayer Leverkusen. The Reds stunned the Premier League and the rest of Europe when they bagged the much-coveted German superstar.
The Premier League champions were eager to make a statement after sealing their 20th top-flight crown and so pulled out all the stops to seal a deal for the ambitious 22-year-old.
After months of speculation, and fighting off the likes of Bayern Munich and Manchester City to land his signature, Wirtz joined Liverpool last month in a deal that could be worth a British-record fee of £116 million.
Babbel, 52, is a former Germany international, who played for Liverpool from 2000-2004 and helped the Anfield side under the late Gerard Houllier win four major trophies.
Despite the eye-watering fee, the four-time Bundesliga champion believes the deal represents excellent value for his former club due to the Wirtz’s clear class – claiming that even if Liverpool’s bitter rivals Manchester United signed the playmaker, he would still echo the same sentiments.
“Florian Wirtz is easily the best signing of the summer transfer window so far,” Babbel told Gameshub. “That was the deal of the year in my opinion and that isn’t just because the Premier League champions signed him; if Man United had made the deal, it would be no different – he’s a fantastic player that will add so much value to the team.
“No one was talking about Liverpool getting the deal done either! Everyone assumed he’d join Bayern Munich, Man City or Real Madrid. But it was always clear to me from the start that he’d be heading to Liverpool to play under Arne Slot and alongside some of the best players in Europe, such as Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.”
He added: “I would be surprised if a club managed to pull off a signing as good as Wirtz to Liverpool. For me, there’s no doubt that he’s the best signing of the window.”
In the five years Wirtz spent at Leverkusen, the Germany international established himself as one of the best players in the world, hence the huge fee paid for his services by Arne Slot’s side.
Speaking after his unveiling as the Reds’ record signing, Wirtz opened up on the high-profile move. “I would like to win everything every year,” he said.
“In the end, we want to be successful. Last season they won the Premier League so my goal is for sure to win it again and also to go further in the Champions League. I’m really ambitious.”
Wirtz said choosing Liverpool was the “next step” he needed to take in his career, adding: “I’m really excited to have a new adventure in front of me. This was also a big point of my thoughts.
“I want to have something completely new, to go out of the Bundesliga and to join the Premier League. I will see how I can perform there. I hope I can do my best.
“I just thought that it was the right point in my career to make the next step and of course I wanted to get to a club that is from the top three in the world. In my opinion, Liverpool is one of them. I just saw myself in the best hands in Liverpool.”
Wirtz joins former Leverkusen team-mate Jeremie Frimpong, Hungarian defender Milos Kerkez and Georgian and ex-Valencia shotstopper Giorgi Mamardashvili as the Reds newest faces this summer as Slot looks to defend the Premier League title next season.
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