Liverpool have shattered their transfer record to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.
How Liverpool fans must wish that they could be a fly on the wall at the AXA Training Centre in a couple of weeks’ time.
Had the Reds still be using Melwood at their training ground, there would have been umpteen supporters propped up on wheelie bins desperate to get a view of Arne Slot’s preparations for the 2025-26 season. The feelgood factor has not gone away since Liverpool were crowned Premier League champions.
But the appetite for more success is insatiable. The Reds are at the summit of English football and there are hopes that the red half of Merseyside can dominate like they did in the 1980s. Certainly, Liverpool’s recruitment is giving them a chance.
Wirtz is regarded as one of the best prospects around. He enjoyed five-and-a-half excellent years at Leverkusen after arriving from Cologne aged 16. When signed, Wirtz was an unknown quantity. It would not take him long to break into the first team.
Speaking to BILD, former Die Werkself vice-captain Julian Baumgartlinger revealed that the players did not know who Wirtz was - but were blown away with him in training. "None of us knew who he was,” Baumgartlinger said. “We talked over lunch and wanted to find out who he was. It turned out that he was only 16 and had just joined us from Cologne.
"During the lockdown, we initially trained in small groups. It quickly became clear to all of us: Flo is no ordinary youth player. When he started with us, Kai Havertz had still been at Leverkusen for a few months. Having such a young player again after Kai's move to Chelsea was very special. The rest is history.”
At the time, Peter Bosz was the head coach at the BayArena. BILD reports that Wirtz never gave the ball away in training, which led to his debut aged 17 and 15 days - the youngest in Leverkusen history. But it was not a surprise he featured in the 4-0 over Werder Bremen. As football prepared to restart following a lockdown of the world because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bosz has already announced Wirtz would play.
Bosz, the current PSV Eindhoven boss, said: “I knew he was something special – the greatest talent I've had the pleasure of coaching. He was important for us. Flo played well from the start, kept the ball, and played well going forward.”
Wirtz would go on to become the talisman of Leverkusen’s team. The highlight was the 2023-24 season when he helped create history. Die Werkself were the long-running bridesmaids of German football. However, Wirtz and Frimpong were part of the team that won the club their maiden Bundesliga title without losing a game. They also claimed the DFB-Pokal and lost the Europa League final against Atalanta to miss out on a treble.
Last term, Leverkusen had the silverware wrestled back off them by Bayern Munich. Yet there was no shame that Die Werkself earned a runners-up medal, with Wirtz contributing 16 goals and 15 assists in 45 matches in all competitions. He ended his Leverkusen career scoring 57 times and creating 64 in 197 appearances.
Liverpool return to pre-season training on 8 July. Wirtz will be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk as Slot plots the way towards what would be a record-breaking 21st English championship. Those in the dressing room will be just as excited to play alongside Wirtz as supporters who’ll be watching from the Anfield stands.
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