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Florian Wirtz of Bayer Leverkusen.(Image: Boris Streubel/Getty Images)

No sooner had Liverpool supporters seen their heart rates return to normal after watching their team lift the Premier League title, pulses were sent racing again by the Reds' early transfer activity.

Jeremie Frimpong's switch to Anfield was rubber-stamped on Friday, while Richard Hughes was able to convince Real Madrid to pay £10million to secure Trent Alexander-Arnold several weeks before he'd have moved to the Spanish capital on a free transfer.

But it was news of a £109m bid from Liverpool for Bayer Leverkusen's star man Florian Wirtz that really excited supporters, with the German attacker being rated as one of the best young players in European football.

That Liverpool will have, and are willing to, smash their record transfer fee to sign the 22-year-old already speaks volumes about how highly he is thought of in the corridors of power at both Anfield.

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But those who have seen Wirtz up close can already attest to his abilities.

He is always looking up and is ready to play the final pass,."

Another former Germany coach, Barcelona boss Hansi Flick, described Wirtz as the "full package", praising the attacker's "carefree nature" on the pitch.

He said: "Florian is just a huge asset with his care-free nature.

He's the full package."

At club level, Wirtz has left quite an impression on those he and Leverkusen have faced in the past two seasons.

The attacker spearheaded Leverkusen's domestic double under Xabi Alonso in 2023/24 and subsequent return to the Champions League.

A meeting between Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid in January 2025 saw Wirtz catch the eye of Diego Simeone, who compared the Germany international to France legend Antoine Griezmann.

"He is incredibly important for his team, can attack in various forms and contributes to his team's compactness," said Simeone.

Meanwhile, Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman - notoriously hard to impress - is also a fan, saying: "He is an incredibly important player for Germany with outstanding technical abilities, speed, intelligence – a class player."

But the biggest praise for Wirtz came from Cologne boss Gerhard Struber.

Wirtz made the switch from Cologne to Leverkusen in 2020 as a 16-year-old and in February of this year Struber described him as the "German Messi from Cologne".

Big praise indeed, and put to Alonso that his player was following in the footsteps of the Argentine superstar, the then-Leverkusen boss was quick to play down the comparisons, if not completely dismiss them.

"I don't know about that," Alonso said.