Arne Slot has described Florian Wirtz as central to the next stage of Liverpool’s evolution, expressing confidence that the Germany international will establish himself as a world-class talent at Anfield once he adapts to the rigours of the Premier League.
Wirtz became the most expensive signing in Liverpool’s history when he completed a move worth up to £116m from Bayer Leverkusen in June, having rejected interest from Manchester City and Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
The deal includes an initial fee of £100m, with a further £16m in performance-based add-ons.
Despite the record-breaking sum, Slot believes the transfer aligns with previous high-profile acquisitions at Anfield.
He compared Wirtz’s arrival to the £75m signing of Virgil van Dijk and the £65m capture of Alisson Becker, both in 2018.
Slot’s side begin the defence of their Premier League title at home against Bournemouth on Friday night.
“I think Liverpool have done this before,” Slot said.
“With Alisson Becker we spent so much money, with Virgil we spent so much money, and with inflation I think it is the Liverpool signing. We mainly make these signings. But again, we also sell players. If we make these signings, we also have to sell players.
“Yes, he is a different profile to what we have. He might be a bit similar [playing style] to Harvey.
“But Harvey didn’t play that much. The two of them have something in common as well as a profile.
“But he is a different profile to Ryan, Macca, Dom, Curtis. That is what we wanted – to bring a different profile in rather than adding something that already had.
“And then it is very positive that we could bring in such a highly regarded player but I think Liverpool has always been able to bring in these kinds of players.
“Can he take us to the next level? That is something I can only answer in the upcoming years. Everything we expect is very positive but between expecting and realising something is different. Why is Messi and Ronaldo and Mo so highly regarded? Because they are always fit.
“Every single game they are fit and that is something that Florian first has to show in a league like ours. If he is able to stay to fit then our fans will see great moments.
“We are all talking about evolving but it is also something that is natural. I would have preferred Trent (Alexander-Arnold) to stay at the club but unfortunately he didn’t. Then you have to replace him. Then you have situations like Caoimhin Kelleher and Jarell Quansah and I probably forget one or two who didn’t play that much last season.
“I think it is always really hard for a player to have two or three seasons like this in a row and if a player is not able to do this mentally then it is best to split ways and you have to replace. The Luis Diaz situation and Darwin Nunez are quite clear without me having to comment on it.
“So then you have to replace and if you have to do that you are going to look at what are the best options and how they can fit in. For me, that is a little different to this is the squad we have and what we are going to add. No, we had to replace and I think we did that really well. From the options we could get we all got the ones we would like to bring in.”
Slot added: “What’s the target now? Convince that every player that it was small margins last season as well [for why we won the title] and that you have to fight every single time for those small margins.
“That is what I see them doing, every single game we have played even if we have conceded goals, it was never about the work rate but it was about mixed line-ups, about adjusting to each other and conceding two set-pieces (against Athletic Club) is also not ideal.
“We were the best defensive team in the league last season when it comes to defending set pieces so that threshold has to stay the same but we have to improve because our competitors I assume have become better because they are have only brought in additions and no one left these clubs so you would expect them to be better this season so we need to be better as well.”
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