#florian-wirtz

#florian-wirtz

Manchester City is one of the most difficult challenges you have playing away in a season. It's a very interesting game to look forward to. When I wasn't working here and was in the Netherlands, I did know when Manchester City v Liverpool was happening and I can tell you I was 100% in front of the television when it happened. These are the few games everyone is looking forward to.

We've had statement wins ( Bayern Munich beating Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in Paris), end-to-end draws ( Barcelona held 3-3 by Club Brugge), some shock losses ( Pafos defeating Villarreal 1-0) and, to cap it all, a Puskas contender from Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven. This is what you get with Europe's elite club competition, and this week has provided plenty to talk about as the league phase reaches its halfway point.

Liverpool's 116million move for Florian Wirtz was one of the statement signings of the summer transfer window, as the Reds saw off rivals such as Bayern Munich and Manchester City to land the German playmaker. The move was briefly a British transfer record and although the 22-year-old - who was ranked by FourFourTwo at No.1 in a list of the game's best attacking midfielders - is yet to open his Liverpool goalscoring account, the club will be confident he will be a key player for years to come.

I love him. He's a fantastic player. He will be unbelievable, trust me. Hopefully, he will be patient. Hopefully, he'll have good people around him, agent, family, whatever. Hopefully, the coach sees his quality like everybody sees him. I'm sure that everybody sees his quality, and they'll give him that time that he needs to fit into the team. And I guarantee you, he's going to be a success.

Bayern Munich themselves feel they had a very good summer transfer window, in part because they finalised the Luis Diaz deal from Liverpool. They now have another striker in the squad in the form of Chelsea loanee Nicolas Jackson. On top of that, they have the free transfers of a young national player like Tom Bischof and a boss in the defence in Jonathan Tah. So, you can see how Bayern are pleased with this business.

What must a footballer who costs 80m, 100m or more be able to do and prove? He should be a promising prospect at the age of 17 to 20; occupy a clear position on the pitch; be one of the five most important players in a team; perform consistently over many years; prove himself in international competition; and be physically strong. This applies to virtually all those players in this price range: Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Ronaldo, Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Ousmane Dembele.

Florian Wirtz choosing Liverpool over Bayern Munich complicated the summer transfer window for the reigning Bundesliga champions, as the German Rekordmeister had been planning for the blockbuster move for a long time heading into this past summer. Everything looked like it was going on the right track before conversations with Liverpool manager Arne Slot ultimately persuaded Wirtz that Merseyside would be the better destination for himself.