‘I Didn’t Expect’—Florian Wirtz Reveals What Convinced Him to Join Liverpool | OneFootball

Florian Wirtz has revealed that Liverpool “really convinced” him to make a British record move from Bayer Leverkusen, admitting it initially wasn’t an easy decision to leave his native Germany.

On Friday night, Wirtz became the most expensive player ever signed by a British club, completing a £116 million ($156.1 million) transfer from Bayer Leverkusen.

Over the past few seasons, the 22-year-old had become one of the Bundesliga’s most exciting players and there was strong interest from Manchester City and Bayern Munich, as well as Real Madrid links.

In the end, Wirtz indicated his desire to join Liverpool to direct the process, seemingly having spoken to the club and being persuaded their visions and ambitions align with his.

“I just thought that it was the right point in my career to make the next step and of course I wanted to get to a club that is from the top three in the world, and in my opinion Liverpool was one of them,” Wirtz explained in a Q&A with the club’s in-house media.

“I just saw myself in the best hands in Liverpool. I was really convinced by the people here, by the idea, and everything what the club offers me was really good. And in the end [it was] also easy to be excited for me to come to Liverpool.”

Florian Wirtz has arrived at Liverpool after weeks of speculation. / Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

But while it was “easy to be excited” after the decision had been made, Wirtz did need convincing to begin with. The German star explained it was specifically discussions with Arne Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes which helped him to choose Liverpool in the end.

“It was not that easy for me, for sure,” he revealed. “Because I am a German player, I play for the Germany national team. It was not easy for me to decide but I think the talks with the coach and Richard and everybody were, from the very first time, so good and it just kept going like this. Every time I spoke to one of the [people from] the club I felt like, ‘this is the place I want to be’ and so in the end I was really 100% convinced I want to join Liverpool and it was the best choice.”

Wirtz also said he hadn’t expected Liverpool would be his next club, but he was the one in the family—the player is represented by his father, rather than an agency—who was sold on the idea first.

“I think I was the first one in my family who was really into this club when they spoke to us or told us that they are interested in signing me,” he said. “I didn’t expect that Liverpool will be my next club but my family was supporting me and I didn't have to convince them about the club or something.”