Is Florian Wirtz's decision to choose Liverpool over Bayern Munich counting against him in his German homeland? Paul Gorst assesses
Paul Gorst is the Liverpool ECHO's Liverpool FC correspondent and brings readers the inside track on all matters Anfield day in, day out. Now into his seventh season in the role, Paul follows the Reds home and away, wherever they play - including pre season. He brings you all the latest Liverpool news first each day, plus exclusive interviews and insightful, independent analysis. A journalist with over a decade's worth of experience, he has worked at the ECHO since 2016.
Florian Wirtz celebrates by putting his finger to his ear.
Florian Wirtz scored a brilliant free-kick in Germany's win over Northern Ireland
When he came to survey his options at the beginning of the summer, it would have been the easiest thing in the world for Florian Wirtz, at the first major junction of his fledgling career, to have taken the easy option.
For the Germany international, there were two that would have been considered the safer choices as he weighed up interest from Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Liverpool alongside the forlorn hope from Bayer Leverkusen over a contract extension.
Having become the jewel of Germany under the tutelage of Xabi Alonso, an extended stay at the BayArena might have appealed, but with die Werkself's squad set to be decimated by sales alongside the eventual departure of the Real Madrid-bound Alonso, that was eventually ruled out.
A move to Bayern, for many, seemed something of a no-brainer. The Bavarians have a rich history of extracting the finest footballers from Germany from elsewhere and plenty assumed that Wirtz would simply become the latest in a long line. Bayern are the Bundesliga behemoths and even their rivals for domestic honours are forced to go on bended knee when their best players are in demand in Munich.
That was something Jurgen Klopp became wearily familiar with during his seven years at Borussia Dortmund, seeing Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze leave while in charge. Another key lieutenant, Mats Hummels, also left, with his defection coming a year after the former Reds boss had moved to Anfield.
Put simply: if Bayern want a young Germany international, they usually get their man. So it was somewhat jarring for those at the Allianz in the summer when they were beaten to Wirtz by Liverpool, who made the 22-year-old the most expensive footballer in Anfield history when he signed for an initial £100m in June.
“We’re very satisfied at FC Bayern," Bayern's honorary president Uli Hoeness said of their window. "We are the real winners of the summer transfer window. We have a strong team and didn’t need to strengthen it much. Of course, we would have liked to have Florian Wirtz, but we’d never have bought him for €150million.
"We offered £47.7million for Nick Woltemade, while Stuttgart wanted £65million. In the end, he went to Newcastle for £78million. What Newcastle are doing has nothing to do with football. It’s like Monopoly these days."
It's unclear if the Wirtz valuation has been deliberately inflated by Hoeness but Liverpool paid an initial £100m for the attacking midfielder with a further £16m in success-based add-ons. Considering the Bundesliga champions paid £100m for England captain Harry Kane at the age of 30, the Bayern chief's insistence that the Reds star's price tag was too exorbitant doesn't necessarily stack up.
Seeing both Wirtz and Woltemade slip through their grasps this summer has no doubt left Bayern feeling wounded, given their long-established history of cherry-picking the best of the best from home soil.
But has Wirtz's indirect snubbing of Bayern led to some overly critical appraisals of his performances for the national side? Germany's 2-0 defeat to Slovakia last week inevitably led to plenty of harsh words from a media that is just as fiercely demanding as England's and the Liverpool man was caught in the eye of the storm.
Wirtz was accused of 'forgetting his joy' and too often 'seeking personal salvation' in his displays against Slovakia and Sunday's 3-1 win over Northern Ireland, prior to smashing home a superb free-kick to settle the game in Cologne. The player himself admitted the performance against Slovakia was far from acceptable, saying: "We all know the last game was a disaster."
Maybe, by choosing Liverpool over Bayern, Wirtz had inadvertently opened himself up as an easy target for the German media whenever things are going according to plan for die Mannschaft.
Without the natural groundswell of goodwill and support that comes from being an integral figure for the biggest club in the country in Bayern, the Anfield attacker might have to get used to being singled out at times as a result.
It's far easier for the media to criticise when the player does not play for club the size of Bayern, who have an army of former players and pundits working in the media to offer a robust defence of specific performances.
It's why Wirtz's stunning free-kick against the Northern Irish was a perfect riposte on Sunday evening and in the meantime, he will find all the backing and support he needs back on Merseyside.