Arne Slot’s clear plan for where Florian Wirtz would fit into the Liverpool team reportedly played a crucial role in him agreeing to join the Reds over Bayern Munich.
Liverpool has been in negotiations with Bayer Leverkusen over a deal for the 22-year-old, who was initially expected to join the German champions instead of the Premier League ’s top side. That was even the feeling within Anfield up until last week.
But it now seems Wirtz, along with his Leverkusen teammate Jeremie Frimpong, is bound for Liverpool. In a detailed report, Munich-based outlet Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) has described how Bayern lost the battle to sign the player seen as the best German talent on the market.
Central to Wirtz’s decision appears to be where he would play in the team, with SZ stating there were concerns over how he and fellow German international Jamal Musiala would fit into the same side.
Vincent Kompany spoke to Wirtz for an hour and had a “lengthy one-on-one tactical discussion” on how he would operate in the team. However, the Bayern head coach is said to have ended that meeting with “serious doubts” over whether the attacker would sign for the club.
Slot, meanwhile, did not encounter the same issue after he demonstrated a “clear model of a team in which the game would be rebuilt around Wirtz.” According to SZ, that is how Liverpool won the “long-distance duel.”
The report adds Wirtz met with key Bayern figures such as sporting director Max Eberl, plus board members Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeness, with a feeling among the hierarchy that the 2024/25 Bundesliga player of the year, could be a leader in the team for many years to come.
Florian Wirtz
Wirtz is expected to sign for Liverpool in coming weeks. (Image: (Image: Getty.))
There is now a sense that no one is to blame for the failure to sign Wirtz, with a commitment from the player’s parents leading Bayern to believe a transfer was likely. That stance was not shared by Wirtz himself, who had already identified Liverpool as his primary destination.
German outlet Bild adds that the talks with the two coaches were “crucial”. Slot is said to have "captivated" Wirtz and “assured him of a central role in attack”, which convinced him to join Liverpool.
Now it’s a waiting game for the Reds, despite fans’ desperation to get a deal over the line. Given the season has not yet concluded - the Champions League final is yet to be played - there is unlikely to be much concern at Liverpool, a club that has become synonymous with meticulous transfer planning.
Wirtz is capable of playing as an attacking midfielder, false nine, or center-forward. He would offer Slot additional options and quality on top of the squad that secured the Premier League title.
A reported transfer fee of $170 million (£126M) could see Liverpool shatter its own record signing, although it has been suggested the Reds are working to lower that figure.