What journo just heard this morning about Florian Wirtz will delight Liverpool fans

Arne Slot success in helping Liverpool beat Bayern Munich to Florian Wirtz appears even more impressive.

The Merseysiders obviously committed a vast sum (£116m inclusive of add-ons) this summer to snap up the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder.

But it was the Dutchman’s personal pitch to the German international that completely blew away the competition.

Arne Slot has put Florian Wirtz at the heart of Liverpool

Watching Wirtz in motion for Liverpool has already been quite the treat for the Anfield faithful.

Don’t forget that the Reds are hardly experiencing any kind of serious poverty in midfield when it comes to quality.

Alexis Mac Allister remains a World Cup winner, Dominik Szoboszlai skippers Hungary, and Ryan Gravenberch was arguably the leading No.6 in the Premier League last term.

Despite that, Christian Falk details how Slot helped bring the former Bundesliga prodigy to England by promising to make him his ‘clear number one in midfield’.

“Apparently, Vincent Kompany tried very, very hard during the talks with Florian Wirtz,” the head of football at the BILD Group exclusively informed CaughtOffside.

“But he must have always talked about Jamal Musiala AND Wirtz. ‘You and Musiala should do it this way,’ and ‘Musiala here, Musiala there.’

“Liverpool coach Arne Slot took a different approach in the talks with Wirtz. Slot apparently only talked about Wirtz and no other Liverpool stars. ‘You are my clear number one in midfield.’ And that is said to have been the deciding factor in the end.”

It’s not hard to see why. Wirtz, nominated for this year’s Ballon d’Or award, is already considered a generational midfield talent.

Bayern already have their own Wirtz

It would be unfair to suggest that the German and compatriot Jamal Musiala are identical footballers.

However, it was evidently a struggle for Vincent Kompany to imagine a world where the former Leverkusen star was the main man in midfield.

That’s understandable too, given FBref consider Florian Wirtz to be one of the more statistically similar players to the Bayern Munich star.

Both are creative powerhouses who excel with the ball at their feet and show absolutely no fear in taking on a man.

* Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala stats over last 365 days, via FBref

It’s worth pointing out that Germany does manage to include both on the pitch, but club football can, of course, throw up different challenges in that regard.

Regardless, unlike at the Allianz Arena, there was always a clear spot for a player like Wirtz in the Liverpool starting-XI.

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