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The Premier League champions will shell out an initial £100m for the German international, with an additional £16m in potential add-ons making the 22 year old a British transfer record.

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It's suggested that Wirtz would need to be an extraordinary success to reach these lofty heights, but that is the desired outcome for all parties involved following a statement signing that further bolsters a squad that strolled to the title by 10 points, despite failing to win any of their last four matches.

Some apprehension lingered among those who still remember how the £50m deal for Fekir dramatically fell through in the summer of 2018, largely due to a serious knee injury Wirtz sustained while playing for Leverkusen in March 2022.

During a match against his former club Koln, in the Rhineland derby, Wirtz lost his balance just before the half-hour mark while dribbling past defender Luca Kilian, resulting in a twisted left knee.

An MRI scan was promptly conducted after Wirtz was taken off the pitch by Leverkusen, confirming that the attacking midfielder had torn his anterior cruciate ligament.

It was a harsh stroke of luck for the then 18-year-old, but it was simply misfortune.

After a gruelling 272-day absence, Wirtz made his long-awaited return to football in December 2022, while his international teammates were competing in the Qatar World Cup.

Despite joining Bayer Leverkusen for their mid-season trip to the US in November and sitting out during a friendly victory against St Louis City, Wirtz marked his comeback with a 30-minute appearance in a 3-0 loss to Rangers.

"He's like a fantastic new signing for us," exclaimed former manager Xabi Alonso, praising the impact of Wirtz's return.

"With Flo, we're a better team and I'm also a better coach."

Post-match, an exhausted Wirtz reflected on his performance: "I'm not used to the tempo after being out for nine months.

I made a few mistakes."

Initially, Wirtz had harboured hopes of participating in the Qatar tournament, given that the mid-season competition in the Middle East was still about nine months away.

However, he wisely refrained from committing to a full-throttle effort to secure a spot in the Germany squad, stating: "My big goal after the injury was simply to be 100% fit again.

All that matters now is to take the next steps in training."

Alonso, who took over while Wirtz was recuperating, kept such a close watch on his player's recovery that he willingly reported for duty at the club's training base on his days off during the World Cup to monitor the progress, even participating in the five-a-side matches at the Performance Centre to assess exactly what he had in the talented Wirtz.

It's said that Alonso was so impressed by Wirtz that he made the creative midfielder the focal point of his plans and less than two years later, die Werkself completed an entire Bundesliga season unbeaten, clinching their first ever league title along with a German Cup.

They also reached the final of the Europa League, where they were runners-up.

During his 2022 recovery process, Wirtz missed a total of 43 games, but any worries that this could lead to further problems down the line, as sometimes happens with certain players, have been allayed by the injury history of the Reds' new recruit since then.

An internal ligament injury sidelined him for a month from early March to April last season, but according to Transfermarkt's data, that's the only significant issue he's faced since his long-term setback.

With Arne Slot and his team successfully maintaining the squad's health for the majority of the previous season, contributing significantly to their success, there is real hope that Wirtz will become a fixture in the team for many years to come.


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