Liverpool confirmed the signing of top transfer target Florian Wirtz on Friday, having agreed a deal with Bayer Leverkusen to sign him for a British-record £116million fee
Jurgen Klopp has offered his seal of approval to Liverpool’s new £116million signing, Florian Wirtz. The German playmaker, 22, has joined the Reds on a five-year contract after completing a British-record move from Bayer Leverkusen.
Wirtz was Liverpool’s top target going into the summer transfer window and they’ve managed to beat Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich to his signature. The deal is comprised of £100m paid to Leverkusen upfront with a further £16m in potential add-ons.
It’s by far the biggest signing made since Klopp departed Anfield, with his successor, Arne Slot, having led the Reds to the Premier League title in his first season. Slot’s reward is to work with a top talent like Wirtz and Klopp has no doubts that he’ll be ‘really, really great’ on Merseyside.
During an interview with to German broadcaster RTL, the former Liverpool boss was asked to give his verdict of the transfer. “It will be really, really great,” Klopp replied. “I’m sure of it.”
The legendary manager went on to say: “It’s very difficult to strengthen them when you’re champions. But Liverpool have managed that. They’ve signed an exceptional talent in Florian Wirtz.”
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Wirtz had the pick of some of Europe’s best clubs but he and his family felt that Liverpool was the perfect next step. “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, and in my opinion Liverpool was one of them,” the 31-time Germany international explained.
“Yeah, I just saw myself in the best hands in Liverpool. I was really convinced by the people here, by the idea, and everything what the club offers me was really good. And in the end [it was] also easy to be excited for me to come to Liverpool.
Will Florian Wirtz live up to his £116m price tag at Liverpool? Give us your prediction in the comments section.
“It was not that easy for me, for sure, because I am a German player, I play for the Germany national team. So, it was not easy for me to decide but I think the talks with the coach and Richard [Hughes, Liverpool’s sporting director] and everybody were, from the start or from the very first time, so good and it just kept going like this.
“Every time I spoke to one of the [people from] the club I felt like, ‘this is the place I want to be’ and so in the end I was really 100 percent convinced I want to join Liverpool and it was the best choice.”
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