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There was a time when Liverpool looked to a German prodigy at Bayer Leverkusen as they sought to add another dimension to their attack but didn’t get him.

That time was 2017, the Bundesliga wunderkind was Julian Brandt and the reason was that Jurgen Klopp, initially an advocate of his compatriot, was persuaded to switch his attentions to Mohamed Salah by Michael Edwards and the recruitment team assembled by Fenway Sports Group.

Fast forward eight years, when Brandt has had a fine career but Salah an exceptional one, and Liverpool have brought in the next generation of German playmaker.



When they go big, it tends to be for a player they feel will be transformative.

Before his departure, Klopp admitted there were times he wished Liverpool had spent more.

Jeremie Frimpong, a teammate for both Leverkusen and Liverpool, joins at 24 with 245 club games, and 13 appearances for the Netherlands.

Their wages, while they can be substantial – and Wirtz certainly will not come cheap – are likely to be less than those of players a few years older with a stack of major medals to their name.

Florian Wirtz signs on the dotted line for Liverpool (Liverpool FC via Getty)

And yet those 200 games, those five or six years of first-team football, offer sufficient evidence for Liverpool to form a meaningful judgement.

It is notable, though, that for many Liverpool is not their second club, but the third, fourth or fifth.

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