It's happened. It's finally happened. Liverpool have agreed a deal with Bayer Leverkusen for the transfer of Florian Wirtz.
Though the saga feels to have dragged on somewhat over the past several weeks, sporting director Richard Hughes has been engineering a British-record deal, juggling other significant transfers besides.
florian-wirtz-bayer-leverkusen-atletico
While the minutiae still need to be sorted out, Liverpool have "verbally agreed a deal in principle", reports transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, with a "move now imminent."
Rumours pertaining to Luis Diaz's summer sale are persisting, with Barcelona determined to get the deal over the line, and thus, the agreement has come at the perfect time.
Florian Wirtz - Career Stats by Position
Position
Attacking midfield
Centre-forward
Right winger
Left winger
Central midfield
Data via Transfermarkt
However, Wirtz isn't really a wide player, even though his dribbling skills are among the finest in the business. Indeed, if the Colombian does go, FSG may need to dip their toes right back into the transfer market.
Why Liverpool want a winger
Diaz showcased his wonderful skills on international duty for Colombia. He scored a sensational solo goal, all fleet feet and party tricks to outplay the Argentine defenders, and perhaps reminded Liverpool fans that it would take some doing to find an upgrade.
Diaz is 28 and entering the next-to-last year of his Liverpool contract. Barcelona made a recent approach and were rebuffed, but their interest remains and Liverpool, while publicly stressing their desire to keep the winger, would entertain the right offer for sure.
It's understood the Reds would entertain offers ranging between £60m and £70m this summer. Lowballers would find themselves incurring the wrath of Liverpool's obstinance, with FSG willing to run down the South American's contract, making use of the prime years of his career.
Liverpool forward Luis Diaz
However, if Liverpool do lose Diaz, they will need to find a replacement. Anthony Gordon's name has floated about, but Slot and Richard Hughes seem to have an even better fit in mind.
Liverpool join race for star winger
As per Football Insider, Liverpool are interested in signing AC Milan's Rafael Leao this summer; after the Serie A side's wretched campaign, missing out on Europe, they may reluctantly sell.
With Liverpool's scouts having kept a close eye on the 26-year-old, a deal may be forthcoming in the coming months, although a number of Premier League clubs - Arsenal have been namechecked - are also in the running. Milan would be looking to bank around £64m from the player's sale.
Rafael Leao goal tallies (timeless)
Gordon has also been named as a potential option, but the Portuguese winger perhaps has a higher ceiling, and who better to help him reach it than Slot?
Why Liverpool want Rafael Leao
Ryan Gravenberch was crowned the Premier League's Young Player of the Year for 2024/25, refashioned as he was into a deep-lying, counter-pressing number six.
Premier League Young POTS nominees 24-25 (timeless)
Slot made his clock start ticking, a priceless success after FSG failed to convince the now Arsenal-bound Martin Zubimendi to leave his beloved mountains in the Basque Country (no bitterness at all from us Liverpool fans here).
Given the improvements Cody Gakpo underwent last term, Leao would be understood to want to leap at the chance to join Slot's project.
AC Milan's Rafael Leao during the warm up
Praised for his "world-class ability" by analyst Ben Mattinson, Leao has been one of Italian football's standout players for several years, hitting 12 goals and 13 assists across all competitions last season in spite of his side's struggles.
In Serie A alone, Sofascore record that he has averaged 1.4 dribbles and key passes per fixture, as well as 4.5 successful duels per game.
Gordon's no stranger to a combative sequence himself, but is it fair to say that Leao boasts more completeness in his application? Writer Theo Mwangi even went as far as to dub the Iberian native a "superstar" when he's on his A-game.
Newcastle-Anthony-Gordon
Regressing in terms of output, Gordon might not have had the best year on Tyneside, but in 2023/24, he was awarded Newcastle's Player of the Season award after notching 28 goal contributions across all competitions.
However, football is more than just goals and assists, especially for wingers (Diaz would be among the first to attest to that), and Leao has showcased across the past year a more robust and effective underlying skill set than that of his English counterpart.
Rafael Leao vs Anthony Gordon (past 365 days)
Stats (per 90)
Goals
Assists
Shots taken
Shot-creating actions
Touches (att pen)
Progressive passes
Progressive carries
Successful take-ons
All data via FBref
Gordon might declare himself a "nightmare for anyone" he comes up against, but he needs to be more active and incisive with his natural skills, for Leao has thoroughly outstripped him since the beginning of the 2024/25 campaign.
Given that Newcastle would be looking for payment in the ballpark of £80m, it's clear that Leao would be the better pick, cheaper and perhaps more suited to Slot's intense playing style.
Both players need to hit richer veins of consistency to step up and become part of the true elite, but Diaz has been a bona fide success on Merseyside, and he's not exactly blessed with the potency of Mohamed Salah.
FBref's data has even drawn AC Milan's star up as being a statistically similar player to Liverpool's Colombian maverick, so replacing him with Leao seems like something of a no-brainer.
Liverpool have some thinking to do over the coming weeks. It's worth reiterating that all this will only come into play if Diaz is sold - and if he is, there's no better replacement out there than Leao.
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