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MUNICH, GERMANY - MARCH 05: The shirt of Florian Wirtz is displayed inside the Bayer 04 Leverkusen dressing room prior to the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Round of 16 first leg match between FC Bayern München and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Allianz Arena on March 05, 2025 in Munich, Germany.

(Photo by Sebastian Widmann - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)(Image: Sebastian Widmann - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

Toasting to the Premier League champions might still be ongoing across Liverpool's fanbase, but it's now less than a month until the champions return for pre-season training.

Arne Slot will welcome his players back to the AXA Training Centre on July 7 and Florian Wirtz is expected to be part of that pack as the £116m man gets set for his Reds medical after an agreement was reached with Bayer Leverkusen.

While a big-spending summer remains the plan at Anfield, having already added £29m Jeremie Frimpong to the ranks to effectively replace Trent Alexander-Arnold, work remains ongoing to further bolster the ranks, with Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez also wanted.

READ MORE:What a £116m Florian Wirtz deal will cost Liverpool - and how they can afford itREAD MORE:Inside blockbuster Florian Wirtz £116m transfer as Leverkusen star blown away by Liverpool pitch

And as transfer talks continue behind the scenes, Paul Gorst brings you all the latest off-diary tidbits in the ECHO's Liverpool Notebook.

Van Bronckhorst set to join

Giovanni van Bronckhorst is set to replace John Heitinga on Arne Slot's backroom team, it's understood.

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The former Arsenal and Barcelona defender guided Rangers to the Europa League final in 2022 and was most recently manager at Bestikas until November.

Van Bronckhorst started his coaching career at Feyenoord, where he served for four years before he moved to China for 11 months at Guangzhou City.

He left to be closer to his family in the Netherlands.

Van Bronckhorst won the Eredivisie in 2017 in charge of Feyenoord and lifted a Scottish Cup at Rangers in 2022 before they were beaten by Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League showpiece.

At Besiktas, he guided the team to a Turkish Super Cup before he was sacked midway through last season.

Liverpool have been searching for a Heitinga replacement after he chose to take the head coach role at Ajax at the end of May and Van Bronckhorst is now expected to replace his compatriot.

The Reds' four-man contingent of Oranje internationals in the squad are likely to view the appointment of such a respected former Netherlands star as a positive one and the expected addition of Van Bronckhorst will further swell the ranks of Dutchmen at Anfield to seven in total across the playing and coaching staff.

Riedle on Wirtz

Former Liverpool striker Karl-Heinz Riedle believes the Reds are getting one of the finest talents ever produced by German football in Florian Wirtz.

The former striker, who joined the Reds in 1997 from Borussia Dortmund, was effusive in his praise of a player who, all being well, will be confirmed as a club-record signing at Anfield soon.

Speaking to Bild, Riedle said: "Liverpool were cool even in my time.

Liverpool has so much quality in attack, it's a gift for every ten to be able to play in this team.

"Florian Wirtz has outstanding playing potential, and in addition there is his tackling strength, which will help him in England.

"Florian is now taking a big step in his career.

Florian is a talent of the century like we've never had before."

Quite the praise from the 1997 Champions League winner.

A numbers game?

Inevitably, attention will turn to what squad number Florian Wirtz will take as a Liverpool player.

That will be confirmed when he officially joins and with a brand new shirt set to be debuted by new suppliers Adidas later this summer, Wirtz is likely to be near the top of the list of names on the back of the 25/26 strip for supporters.

He is almost the archetypal No10, but the attacking midfielder rejected reports in Germany recently that he was demanding the shirt itself off Alexis Mac Allister at Anfield in a social media post.

Writing on his Instagram story on June 3, Wirtz wrote: "Who says I want the 10(?) I respect players.
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