Liverpool’s new superstar Florian Wirtz has declared his ambition to ‘win everything, every year’ after making his blockbuster switch from Bayer Leverkusen.
The German golden boy says he is already feeling the love from Reds fans following his £100million move – which could rise to a British transfer record of £116m.
Wirtz has penned a five-year deal at Anfield after a month-long soap opera which saw him reject the esteemed company of Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Real Madrid.
He will be expected to hit the ground running after Liverpool shelled out a club-record fee to sign him.
Wirtz said: ‘I would like to win everything, every year! First of all, we have to do our work, I have to make my work.
‘In the end, we want to be successful. Last season, Liverpool won the Premier League, so my goal is to win it again and also go further in the Champions League. I’m really ambitious.
Liverpool’s new superstar Florian Wirtz says he aims to ‘win everything, every year’
The Reds have forked out an initial £100million, which could rise to £116m, on the golden boy
He arrives with a reputation for prolific scoring and consistent assisting at Bayer Leverkusen
‘I’m really excited to have a new adventure in front of me. This was also a big point of my thoughts: that I want to have something completely new, to go out of the Bundesliga and join the Premier League.’
In a video on Instagram, the 22-year-old added: ‘What would I say? I would say, thank you for the support, of course, I also saw it on Instagram or everywhere else that they are wanting me to come.
‘I would say thank you for the support and I’m really looking forward to playing in front of them and achieving big things together.
‘So yeah, I’m really happy to come and sorry for the long wait.’
After a relatively reserved few transfer windows, Liverpool fans have been left slack-jawed by what looks to be an almost perfect transfer window so far.
Arne Slot had already signed Wirtz’s former Bayer Leverkusen team-mate Jeremie Frimpong for £29.5m.
Witrtz and Frimpong were crucial to Leverkusen’s invincible domestic double in 2023-24 under Xabi Alonso and were recently on holiday together.
Frimpong arrives as an attack-minded replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold, who Liverpool got £10m for from Real Madrid just a month before his contract ended.
In the 2023-24 season, Wirtz (centre) was the star man as Leverkusen went unbeaten to win an against-the-odds Bundesliga title and German Cup
Wirtz joins Jeremie Frimpong in swapping Leverkusen for Liverpool this summer
Arne Slot, it is understood, sees him as a No 10 but he can operate in various different roles
Liverpool view the deal similarly to big-money deals for Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker
The deal vastly eclipses the £85m club record fee Liverpool could have paid for Darwin Nunez
The signing of Wirtz represents a major coup for Arne Slot’s Premier League champions
The Reds are also set to sign Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez for £40m.
Meanwhile, Giorgi Mamardashvili will take his place as Alisson’s sidekick after leaving Valencia for £29m – as arranged last summer – while Caiomhin Kelleher has been shipped to Brentford for a healthy £18m.
Slot’s vision appealed to Wirtz and the Dutchman plans to deploy him as an attacking midfielder.
It is believed that in games when Liverpool are dominating, they foresee Wirtz floating all over the attack.
They will have to balance the books with sales but their summer business may continue after with them still having designs on a No 9 and defender.
