It hasn't been agreed yet, but Florian Wirtz is expected to sign for Liverpool in a deal that will smash the Reds' transfer record. Very quickly, it has become a case of 'Didn't fancy him anyway' for those who lost out.
"If I'm honest, I don't know if we could have paid what Liverpool are apparently paying now," Bayern Munich sporting director Max Eberl claimed on Thursday, speaking to Sky Germany. You really couldn't imagine paying the fee for a player you have chased for years, well in the knowledge that he would cost substantially above $100M this summer? Come on now.
Bayern Munich is simply gutted to miss out on a player already viewed in Germany as one of the top five to 10 stars in the world. The expectation, until Liverpool intervened, was that he would obviously end up at the Allianz Arena.
Elsewhere, the Manchester City sphere on social media has made plenty of the fact that Rayan Cherki — a player Liverpool considered before it became clear that Wirtz was a realistic possibility — will cost around a third of what the German will.
Liverpool, though, is getting a better player, and one that is very much suited to its style of play. Wirtz is a runner and a workaholic out of possession, while Cherki still needs to fully convince on that front.
In any case, it is a little rich for anyone of a Manchester City persuasion to criticize Liverpool for spending big. It splashed out $245 million (£180 million) in the winter transfer window alone, and has since added another $148 million (£109 million) to that so far this summer, even before its deal for the Norwegian wonderkid Sverre Nypan (and anyone else it might target) is confirmed.
Florian Wirtz.
Florian Wirtz. (Image: Photo by Sebastian El-Saqqa - firo sportphoto/Getty Images)
Pep Guardiola is reshaping his roster, but is doing so by committing hundreds of millions in the market. Liverpool is spending big, but from a position of strength on and off the field.
For one thing, it only spent $13 million (£10 million) on Federico Chiesa in Arne Slot's first summer at the helm. And when it has gone big in the past, Liverpool has tended to get its judgments right.
Alisson Becker was at the time the world's most expensive goalkeeper, but no one could argue that he hasn't been good value. Liverpool hasn't needed anyone in that position since, unlike, say, Chelsea, who broke the record a few weeks later to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Since signing Kepa, who moved ahead of Alisson as the world-record holder, the Stamford Bridge outfit has splashed another $100 million (£73 million) on various shot-stoppers without finding a long-term fix. This summer, it wants to bring in another, Mike Maignon, from AC Milan.
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Virgil van Dijk is often cited as someone that Manchester City walked away from because he was deemed too expensive. For one thing, that stance looks ridiculous now, but aside from that, Guardiola has spent way more than $96 million (£75 million) on other center-backs like Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol, none of whom are anyway near as good.
Liverpool going big on one player is unusual. Darwin Nunez, including all the add-ons that then-sporting director Julian Ward agreed with Benfica in 2022, could have cost up to around $115 million (£85 million), but even just the guaranteed amount for Wirtz will comfortably surpass that sum.
That doesn't mean that it is bad business from the Reds, though, nor that Liverpool should in any way feel guilty for doing so. Far from it, in fact.
As the Premier League champion, a Champions League regular, and one of the biggest and best teams in world soccer, it has the cash available to spend. In doing such a mega transfer, the Anfield side is acting in the market at exactly the level it should.