Florian Wirtz will finalise his British-record transfer from Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool; the Reds had been tracking the Germany international since 2020; the 22-year-old attacking midfielder could be deployed in a variety of different positions by Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.
Liverpool have agreed a £116.5m deal to sign Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz – so why will they break the British transfer record for the attacking midfielder and where could he play under Arne Slot?
The excitement at Liverpool is palpable given they are set to lure one of the best and most sought-after young footballers in the world to Anfield for the prime years of his career as Slot looks to evolve his title-winning side next season.
“He is an amazing player, one of the biggest talents and most exciting players we have in Germany right now,” said Sky in Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg.
Wirtz is set to play a key role in the side’s development, with the German wunderkind’s varied skillset allowing Slot to utilise him in a variety of positions going forward.
Fenway Sports Group CEO of Football Michael Edwards reportedly first tried to sign Wirtz back in 2020, when he was still in FC Koln’s youth setup, and despite the player suffering a torn ACL in his left knee in March 2022, has stayed in contact with his family ever since.
The 22-year-old was in such high demand this summer, with Liverpool set to beat Bayern Munich and Manchester City to his signature, because he is, in essence, the complete attacking package.
A generational talent that not only creates but also scores – 44 goal contributions, in fact, across the last two German top-flight campaigns, including 21 goals and a Bundesliga-high 23 assists. That was the second most of any player aged under 23 in Europe’s top-five leagues in that time, behind Chelsea’s Cole Palmer.
Last season, for the second year in a row, Wirtz was one of only six players to reach double figures for goals and assists in the continent’s big-five leagues.
“He is such a talented player, playing passes with precision and tempo. He is making his team-mates better but also scoring goals himself,” said Sky in Germany reporter Felix Fischer.
“He is able to decide games on his own and that is a quality that will lift Liverpool another five or 10 per cent higher. They are already great but Wirtz will bring a new quality there.”
One of the primary reasons Wirtz is both a scorer and provider is that he is right footed but equally adept at using his left, thus allowing him to effortlessly glide past bamboozled opponents into threatening areas of the pitch – as you can see in the video above.
The playmaker attempted a Bundesliga-high 313 take-ons, while only Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal (231), West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus (216) and Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku (203) completed more than his 161 dribbles in the last two seasons in Europe’s top-five leagues.
As a result, Wirtz created 124 chances from open play in that period across the continent’s big-five leagues, a figure bettered by only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (150), Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard (139), Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes (137) and Palmer (134).
Supplementing those eye-catching solo runs is Wirtz’s precision passing, with the attacking midfielder always looking for that killer through ball to open up packed opposition defences that like to sit deep – something Liverpool often have to counter.
Illustrating that point, the twinkle-toed German ranked first in the Bundesliga for through balls (49) and completed lay-off passes (123) last season.
Unusually for someone who primarily is a playmaker, Wirtz is also – to paraphrase former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp – a pressing monster, winning back possession 71 times in the final third last season, including 39 high turnovers – both Bundesliga highs.
Even though he is just 22, the German is already an established international who has racked up almost 200 Bundesliga appearances – winning German footballer of the year awards in 2023 and 2024 and often being described as having an old head on young shoulders.
It is his all-round game intelligence that means Wirtz can be deployed in a variety of roles next season, a positional flexibility that should help evolve Liverpool’s game going forward and make the champions less predictable and harder to beat.