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Having become the first Liverpool player to break the British transfer record in the Premier League era, Stan Collymore will know from first-hand experience how Florian Wirtz might be feeling just now.

The Reds recently reached an agreement with Wirtz's Bayern Leverkusen after around three weeks of intense and detailed negotiations between the respective sporting directors of Richard Hughes and Simon Rolfes and the Germany star is now awaiting the next steps to complete the biggest transfer of all time on Merseyside.

Drawing an arbitrary and imaginary line from the Premier League's 1992 advent does occasionally draw the ire of the more seasoned football supporter, but Collymore did break new ground when he completed an £8.5m switch from Nottingham Forest in 1995.



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He became the most expensive footballer in British history at the time before Alan Shearer nearly doubled it 13 months later when he signed for Newcastle United at £15m.

Liverpool's own in-house version has been broken seven times in 30 years but the former England striker's place in Anfield history could now eventually be wrestled away by Germany international Wirtz, whose £116m arrival will be made up of £100m up front and a further £16m in add-ons.

For that reason, Wirtz may not technically be stepping through the doors of the AXA Training Centre initially as the Premier League's most costly arrival but he has the potential to exceed the £115m Chelsea forked out for Moises Caicedo nearly two years ago.

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"When you play for a club like Liverpool it is nervous and it is edgy," Collymore tells the ECHO.

Liverpool don't need to do that, so in terms of Wirtz, just be as understated as possible."

Having such an eye-watering price tag accompanying your name in the headlines can sometimes inhibit a player.

Collymore, though, feels the slick operation at Liverpool means there should be few concerns over 22-year-old Wirtz breaking new ground as a £100m player at Anfield.

Speaking via NewBettingOffers.co.uk, Collymore adds: "I don't think this is firing a shot across the bows of Arsenal and Manchester City just to show they can find this kind of money.

"They have done their homework on a player who I think most people assumed was going to go to Bayern Munich as an absolute tap-in, have three great seasons and end up at Real Madrid or Barcelona.

"The fact he really wants to come to Liverpool is massive.

From my perspective, I can't wait to see how he gets on.

"I think Liverpool, from the centre spot to the penalty spot, it's been, well not an issue, but I think with Szoboszlai, Mac Allister as orthodox midfielders who can also get forward that having Wirtz who can go in straight lines from a central position, 10-15 yards outside the 18-yard box, little threaded passes, give-and-gos, opening up teams, it an exciting prospect indeed.

"I think the money then [in 1995] - because it was in the early days of the Premier League - records were being broken all the time.

Big money isn't a new story anymore, Saudi Arabia have blown the doors off things, offering Lionel Messi £1billion or whatever it was that was reported at the time.

"So I think with Wirtz, it's slightly unusual in that OK, Liverpool occasionally break their transfer records and they break the British records at times too but Liverpool, over its history, have had a tradition where they find a player like a Mo Salah or a Sadio Mane and make them into legends.

"I know that going back to Kenny [Dalglish] and before that they have brought in players for big fees but I think because they are champions and they are looking in terms of Arsenal and Manchester City are competing with them alongside 20 or 30 years of big money coming into the Premier League, I just don't think the [Wirtz fee] will be talked about as much.

"I think the only reason it will be [a big thing] is if the club indulges it.

But I just think Liverpool now, the marketing, the way the club is run off the field, they don't need to sell a player based on what he's cost, they can sell a club that is champions of England and England's most successful club.

"When you look at what Manchester United have done wrong in the last 10 years - of which there have been many things - one of them was the over-ostentatious [presentations].
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