Coach Arne Slot compared Florian Wirtz to Harvey Elliott, then linked up the £100 million deal with landmark signings such as Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk.
After that, he did not hesitate to set the highest goal, mentioning Mohamed Salah, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Dutch captain wants to affirm that there is no greater pressure than that.
Wirtz's record price is enough to make him the center of attention even before the coach mentioned two legends of world football and one of the greatest symbols in Liverpool's history.
As Wirtz prepares to make his Premier League debut, Arne Slot admits the German could need time to adapt to specific tactical requirements. However, he did not consider youth or lack of experience as a barrier to his importance.
Arne Slot believes Wirtz has the courage to face this challenge. Perhaps that is the reason why he is willing to compare the number 7 rookie with 3 players who have scored more than 2,000 goals in total, although it is not necessary to reach that number.
Arne Slot explained that Messi, Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah are highly appreciated because they always maintain a full physical condition in every match. And that is also the standard that Wirtz must meet first in the Premier League. If he maintains a stable physical condition, Wirtz can completely bring Liverpool fans special moments.
As for the ability to help the team reach a new level, Arne Slot was more cautious: "That is something I can only answer in the years ahead. Expectations are very positive, but there is always a gap between expectations and reality" - he said.
Wirtz is also in the bigger picture of the squad reconstruction process. Arne Slot mentioned his £300 million spending associated with replacing the departed pillars. Jeremie Frimpong came to fill the void of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Hugo Ekitike replaced Darwin Nunez, and in the near future Giovanni Leoni will replace Jarell Quansah.
Arne Slot stressed that Wirtz is not a replacement contract, but a piece that adds a new direction to Liverpool's playing style. He compared Wirtz to Elliott for their similar style, but pointed out that the young England international was not playing regularly.
Wirtz is clearly different from Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai or Curtis Jones. And that difference is what Liverpool are looking for.
"It's a positive thing that we can bring in such a highly rated player, but I think Liverpool always have that ability.
I think Liverpool have done this before. With Alisson Becker, we spent a lot of money, with Van Dijk, we also spent a lot of money. In the context of inflation, I think it is Liverpool's contract.
We mainly implement these contracts. But again, we also had to sell. If we want to do these contracts, we also have to sell players" - the Dutch strategist said.
Alisson was worth £65 million, Van Dijk was worth £75 million, and both deals were made on the proceeds from Philippe Coutinho's move to Barcelona.
Arne Slot may have put Wirtz in a similar situation to Kenny Dalglish - who signed for a record fee of £440,000 in English football, funded by selling Kevin Keegan to Hamburg. Or like John Barnes and Peter Beardsley, who were signed with the proceeds from the Ian rush deal to Juventus.
All of those contracts were successful. At the age of 22, Wirtz has reached the top sooner than his seniors. When he helped Bayer Leverkusen win their first Bundesliga championship, he was also named the tournament's Best Player.
"He may be young, but he has achieved a lot of victory. In fact, we can still call him a young player, but in terms of experience, I don't think so.
He won the national championship with Bayer Leverkusen, won the cup, played for Germany many times and above all, his fighting spirit is his strongest point" - Arne Slot added.
