The key attribute that explains why Liverpool signed Florian Wirtz – and why he’ll succeed | OneFootball

There was a time when Liverpool looked to a German prodigy at Bayer Leverkusen as they sought to add another dimension to their attack but didn’t get him. That time was 2017, the Bundesliga wunderkind was Julian Brandt and the reason was that Jurgen Klopp, initially an advocate of his compatriot, was persuaded to switch his attentions to Mohamed Salah by Michael Edwards and the recruitment team assembled by Fenway Sports Group.

Fast forward eight years, when Brandt has had a fine career but Salah an exceptional one, and Liverpool have brought in the next generation of German playmaker. Florian Wirtz has cost an initial £100m; it could rise to a British record £116m if add-ons are triggered. It is already a club high: it could be a third overall record set in the FSG era after the most expensive prices then ever paid for a goalkeeper (Alisson, £65m) and defender (Virgil van Dijk, £75m). FSG can make the statement signing and balance the books. When they go big, it tends to be for a player they feel will be transformative.

Before his departure, Klopp admitted there were times he wished Liverpool had spent more. But he bought into the general policy. His relative frugality helped finance the Wirtz deal. So did the summer of his departure when Arne Slot arrived and Liverpool pocketed a transfer-market profit.

Arne Slot has seen his Premier League-winning squad improved already this summer (AP)

But if Wirtz’s fee can seem off the scale – only Alisson, Van Dijk and Darwin Nunez have otherwise cost more than £60m – both the broader strategy and his profile render him a classic FSG buy. A couple of years ago, Klopp offered some insight into the criteria. “The owners really want 200 games at 20 years old,” he said. “That is pretty difficult.’’

The best way to read it, however, is to say FSG want 23-year-olds with 200 games to their name. Go through many of their bigger and better signings over the last decade and it is roughly accurate. Wirtz will not turn 23 for a year but has 197 club appearances to his name, plus 31 Germany caps. Jeremie Frimpong, a teammate for both Leverkusen and Liverpool, joins at 24 with 245 club games, and 13 appearances for the Netherlands. Milos Kerkez, the left-back set to become their third major summer signing, has 158 matches to his name; 181 if his caps are included.

Jeremie Frimpong fits the mould that Liverpool's owners FSG want

Dominik Szoboszlai came at 22 with the experience of 216 club games, Alexis Mac Allister at 24 with 213, Cody Gakpo at 23 with 195, Sadio Mane at 24 with 197, Salah at 25 with 252, Andy Robertson at 22 with 202, Roberto Firmino at 23 with 191, Diogo Jota at 23 with 213, Ryan Gravenberch with 181 at just 21. Giorgi Mamardashvili, bought last summer at 23, was loaned back to Valencia and has now played 201 matches of club football.

Average it out and Klopp’s theory stands up. FSG’s recruitment policy seems underpinned by several elements. They are signing players whose best days should be ahead of them. Indeed, Liverpool looks a step up for virtually all. Their wages, while they can be substantial – and Wirtz certainly will not come cheap – are likely to be less than those of players a few years older with a stack of major medals to their name.

Florian Wirtz signs on the dotted line for Liverpool (Liverpool FC via Getty)

And yet those 200 games, those five or six years of first-team football, offer sufficient evidence for Liverpool to form a meaningful judgement. Some of their arrivals, like Robertson, Jota, Mac Allister, Mane and the target Kerkez, have a grounding in the Premier League.

The others tend to have played in the Champions League and one of six major European leagues: in Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Portugal or the Netherlands. They let them learn, improve and make their mistakes elsewhere and then pounce. Their previous club serves as a well-recompensed finishing school. It is notable, though, that for many Liverpool is not their second club, but the third, fourth or fifth.

Florian Wirtz was a crucial part of Bayer Leverkusen’s Bundesliga title win in 2024 (EPA)

Their formula can have a pertinence. Over the last decade, Liverpool have a high strike rate. That so few of their major buys have failed reflects on the quality of their analysis and decision-making – and Edwards and the off-field transfer specialists can note that the erratic Nunez was more of a Klopp choice – and has enabled them to compete with clubs with bigger budgets.

It also stands in contrast to clubs with lower success rates: under Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly, Chelsea have signed younger, prioritising potential but bringing in players without that body of evidence. Manchester United went through a phase of signing old, on bigger wages, with a lesser resale value. That policy produced Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, Alexis Sanchez, Raphael Varane and Casemiro – what might generously be called mixed returns and an ever-present possibility of decline.

Liverpool have rarely deviated from their strategy. Van Dijk was older than most, but has displayed longevity. So was Federico Chiesa, but he was more of an opportunistic punt at a low price. Klopp had to persuade his employers to bring in Wataru Endo at 31.

Yet a curiosity of Liverpool’s buying is that while their statistics gurus can recruit on attributes; their successful signings do not always appear in the positions they did for previous clubs. To varying degrees, Firmino, Mane, Gini Wijnaldum and Gravenberch have been reinvented. Now there are questions surrounding where Wirtz will play, even if the price tag suggests Liverpool have a plan.

They usually do. Every other buy in Liverpool’s history has been cheaper. Many in the last 10 years have been successes. And if that owes much to the two managers, to the player identification and planning, it also reflects on what can look a low-risk approach to recruitment.