Liverpool are wasting no time in shaping their squad for the season ahead, making a major statement with the signing of Florian Wirtz for a club-record fee. We caught up with Will Rooney from LiverpoolWorld to discuss the thinking behind this bold transfer strategy, where else Liverpool could strengthen, and how the club aims to give Slot the tools he needs—not just to defend their domestic crown, but to compete consistently at the highest level.
00:00Liverpool have wasted no time in shaping their squad for the season ahead, making a major statement with the signing of Florian Wirtz for a club record fee.
00:12The move underlines the ambition, driving Arne Schlott's summer in charge as the Reds look to build on a campaign that delivered the Premier League title.
00:22Schlott inherited a strong group, but faces the challenge of evolving the team tactically, while preserving the identity that's powered Liverpool's success in recent years.
00:33Wirtz's arrival signifies a shift towards greater creativity and fluidity in midfield, an area the new head coach has put as a full comprehensive priority.
00:44We caught up with Will Rooney of Liverpool World to discuss the strategy behind this bold transfer, where Liverpool can strengthen and how the club aims to give Schlott the tools he needs, not just to defend their crown, but to compete consistently at the highest level.
01:00So, Will, Florian Wirtz signing for Liverpool, an incredible fee, a record that Liverpool have paid, a record in the Premier League for a player to come over.
01:12An incredible few seasons on the bounce-up by Leverkusen.
01:16He's a player that's been flirting around, being one of these next wonder kids, these young players.
01:21Firstly, your thoughts on the signing.
01:25I mean, it's obviously been a while since Liverpool have splashed this amount of cash in terms of being linked with players.
01:33They've finally broken that boundary and gone for three figures like the likes of Chelsea have in previous seasons as well.
01:41So, what's your thoughts on Florian Wirtz?
01:42How excited are Liverpool fans with this new addition?
01:47Yeah, I think it's a real statement signing, to be honest with you.
01:49I think when Wirtz was first linked, people were sort of saying, well, that's not going to happen, because even though Liverpool are Premier League champions,
02:02everyone's accepted that additions and eases, but attacking midfield wasn't really one of them this summer.
02:08You know, you've got Dominic Sabost, who was favoured there, you've got Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Jota can play there.
02:13But, clearly, Liverpool have seen this as a chance to sign an absolute top, top prospect.
02:24And Liverpool have missed out on some of them.
02:26Obviously, Jude Bellingham being one of them, you know, missed out on Kai Seydal.
02:30And, too, and then he went to Real Madrid and Liverpool have managed to beat Bayern Munich and Manchester City to a player who is, you know, many people realize as the best player in Germany.
02:44And I think that's why maybe Liverpool have moved forward, because some players, it doesn't matter if you don't need that player.
02:53Sometimes you just can't pass up the opportunity to sign a real top-class player.
03:00And that's what he is, £100 million, a club record.
03:03But it feels like the last one that Liverpool signed of this ilk was maybe, you know, an Alison Becker or maybe a Virgil van Dijk.
03:12And it shows that Liverpool are really diamond at the top table now.
03:16Now they've made some fantastic signs, you know, Salah, Sadio Mane, you know.
03:22But at the time that they were signed, would every single club in the world have jumped to have signed them?
03:29Or would there have been a couple of hesitations around them? But playing where it is, it's different.
03:34So Bosley, maybe some supporters were disappointed with his attacking output at times.
03:40But he covered so much ground to allow Mo Salah to stay up the pitch high and do the damage from there and look at the season he had.
03:49But if you're paying £100 million, I'm sure he don't look for Bosley.
03:52I know he's probably going to be coming in as the number 10 here.
03:56Does Arna Slott potentially play two number 10s and, you know, utilise a false striker?
04:02He did that at Manchester City where Liverpool won in the middle of the season.
04:07Florian Wirtz, he can play a false nine, he can play wide.
04:12So it's about where he'll fit in.
04:14But the fact that Florian Wirtz chose Liverpool because Arna Slott had a clear plan for him, then it's not going to be on the hop.
04:21It's not going to be, right, where can we?
04:23A bit like Liverpool sign for Vertel for me.
04:25A few years ago, he was brought in by Michael Edwards and Brendan Rodgers didn't really know where to play him.
04:32But Liverpool have quite clearly got a plan for Florian Wirtz.
04:36And I think it will be prominent to see where he's going to play after the first few games in pre-season.
