Florian Wirtz is poised to became the latest player to hold the tag being Liverpool's most expensive transfer
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Florian Wirtz of Germany
Florian Wirtz of Germany(Image: Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Liverpool are going with the Flo. After a few weeks haggling with Bayer Leverkusen, a deal for attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz has been agreed with the Reds paying £100million with a further £16m made up of achievable add-ons.
The transfer is expected to go through when the window reopens next week and will make Wirtz the most expensive player in Liverpool's history - the 21st person to assume such an accolade since the Second World War.
While taking on such a mantle can weigh heavy on some shoulders, the Reds have a reasonably decent record in extracting full value from such purchases. Success, though, isn't necessarily guaranteed.
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Wirtz will oust Darwin Nunez as the club record transfer, with the Uruguayan having arrived almost three years to the day the deal for the 22-year-old Germany international was reached on Friday.
Liverpool committed to spending £85.3m on Nunez, who was largely viewed as a signing championed by then boss Jurgen Klopp rather than being aggressively pursued by the Reds' recruitment team.
While by no means a failure, Nunez must be regarded as a qualified success at best. A total of 40 goals and 22 assists in 143 appearances, while playing his part in a Premier League title triumph, would be welcomed by most players.
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But there has always been a sense that more could have been achieved on a personal level, with the arrival of Arne Slot as head coach last summer highlighting his qualities don't necessarily match what is required from a Liverpool number nine at present. Few would be surprised if Nunez departed this summer.
The same, though, cannot be said for the two record signings before the forward. Virgil van Dijk, taken from Southampton for £75m in January 2018, and Mohamed Salah, a £43.9m purchase from Roma six months earlier, remain key figures in the Liverpool squad with both strong contenders to be in the club's greatest XI of all time.
Andy Carroll, though, was another story of what might have been. His £35m signing came on the same day Luis Suarez arrived and Fernando Torres departed, and in many respects the odds were always stacked against the Newcastle United man as Suarez completely overshadowed his new team-mate. There were some flashes - scoring at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final and final - but the arrival of Brendan Rodgers as boss brought an end to his time after barely 18 months.
Forwards ruled the roost for a good 30 years. Torres had been a record buy in July 2007 when taken from Atletico Madrid, and flourished under Rafael Benitez before the ill-fated Roy Hodgson era accelerated his exit.
Djibril Cisse was signed by Gerard Houllier but only arrived after Benitez was appointed, and never truly regained momentum after a horror leg break at Blackburn Rovers. Nevertheless, he did score a penalty in the Champions League final win over AC Milan, two goals in the UEFA Super Cup win over CSKA Moscow and netted in the FA Cup final against West Ham United.
Emile Heskey was a key part of Houllier's treble-winning team of 2001, and while both Stan Collymore and Dean Saunders regularly found the target in the 1990s - the latter winning the FA Cup - that neither made it to a third season spoke volumes. Peter Beardsley, though, won two titles and an FA Cup as part of the attack-minded Liverpool side of the late 1980s.
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Before Beardsley came a string of other successes, with Mark Lawrenson in 1981 and, throughout the 1970s, John Toshack, Ray Kennedy, David Johnson and, of course, Kenny Dalglish. All won multiple honours both home and abroad for Liverpool.
And if the late 1960s saw two players in Tony Hateley and Alun Evans who, for differing reasons, weren't quite able to live up to expectations, the earlier purchases of Emlyn Hughes and Ian St John most certainly did, along with the club's first post-war record signing, Albert Stubbins.
Wirtz, then, is following in the footsteps of some genuine Liverpool royalty both past and present. And history suggests he is more likely than not to leave a successful legacy. Anfield awaits.