Liverpool have broken their club transfer record to sign Florian Wirtz for £100 million and Jurgen Klopp has delivered his verdict on the deal.
Jurgen Klopp has hailed the arrival of Florian Wirtz at Liverpool.
However, the Reds have had to obliterate their transfer record. They have paid £100 million but that could rise to £116 million with add-ons to bring in the 22-year-old, who played an instrumental role when Leverkusen won the Bundesliga for the first time in the 2023-24 campaign.
And former manager Klopp - who won seven major trophies during his time in the Anfield driving seat between 2015-2024 - believes that ‘exceptionally good’ Wirtz can show his quality as Liverpool aim to defend the Premier League title next season.
What’s been said
Speaking to German publication Die Welt, Klopp said: “Florian is an exceptionally good player who suffered a serious injury at a young age (torn cruciate ligament), but then picked up where he left off. Respect. And if you don't pay attention to the weather in Liverpool, you have a wonderful club where you'd love to be a part of it all.
“Yes (he can be a success), 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 world is changing’
During his time as Liverpool manager, Klopp worked on a much tighter budget compared to some of his rivals competing at the upper echelons of the Premier League such as Manchester City. He suggested in 2016 that he would walk away from football when the first £100 million signing took place, as Manchester United paid £90 million for Paul Pogba.
And while Klopp still believes Wirtz’s fee is ‘insane’ he accepted that is the way the transfer market has gone. Klopp, who now works as Red Bull’s head of global soccer, added: “But some don't get it straight away – and others don't have to pay it directly. It shifts over the years. But 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.
“We all agree that we're talking about a great player here. I know I once said that I'm out if we pay 100 million euros for a player. But the world is changing. That's just the way the market is. My part of football will always remain the game itself, but if you want to play at the top level, you can't train all your players yourself; you have to look elsewhere. Not everyone might like that. In English football, what sometimes happens on 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.”
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