It’s not my money. It’s not your money. So it’s hard to really be too bothered at the news that Liverpool Football Club have had to shell out £100m + £16m in add-ons to Bayer Leverkusen to bring Florian Wirtz to Anfield.
It’s objectively an obscene amount of money, but in today’s football market, it’s commonplace to spend that much on exceptional players.
Jürgen Klopp isn’t like you and I, though. He comes from the perspective of the former Liverpool manager, one who had to oversee the club’s transfer business, for seven years.
When asked about Arne Slot’s recent Wirtz business, Klopp gave his honest opinion, even while acknowledging that Wirtz is a strong player.
“There’s no question about it, it’s an insane sum, and one that a player at Liverpool isn’t aware of if things don’t go well for two or three games,” he told a German publication.
“We all agree that we’re talking about a great player here.”
Klopp famously made some extremely shrewd deals in his time, acquiring players like Andy Robertson and Georginio Wijnaldum for a steal. On the other hand, he broke the Liverpool transfer record for captain Virgil van Dijk.
“In English football, what sometimes happens in the transfer market has no impact on people’s emotions or their sense of belonging, of being part of the bigger picture. And it’s also true that a transfer like this doesn’t come along every day,” he added.
And then, because he’s Klopp, he concluded with a bit of a playful neg on the city who has embraced him.
“Florian is an exceptionally good player who suffered a serious injury at a young age but then picked up where he left off. Respect. And if you don’t pay attention to the weather in Liverpool, you’ll find a wonderful club where you’d love to be a part of it all.
“Yes [Wirtz will put his stamp on Liverpool], although of course I don’t know exactly which position Arne has Florian in mind. He’s an outstanding player who can give any club something great. Whether he’ll make the reigning English champions even better remains to be seen.”
The deal is done, and now it’s up to Slot and Wirtz himself to make his high price tag worth the money.