Experienced Sporting Director Makes Florian Wirtz Prediction | OneFootball

Liverpool official

Experienced German technical director Tim Steidten has made a prediction about Liverpool’s new club record signing, Florian Wirtz.

Wirtz signed for Liverpool for a club record base fee of £100m from Bayer Leverkusen, with the possibility of becoming a British record fee should the add-ons be activated.

Steidten was serving as head of scouting at Leverkusen when he, along with Simon Rolfes, Leverkusen’s then sporting director, managed to pluck Wirtz from 1. FC Koln’s academy.

A teenage Wirtz left Steidten impressed by his confidence and ambition during the very first conversation they had had, along with Wirtz’s parents, in Rolfes’ office.

The question of whether Wirtz can establish himself at Liverpool is moot, suggested Steidten, predicting that the attacking midfielder has set his course firmly towards achieving great things.

Steidten told German broadcaster Sky Deutschland: “Many people ask me whether he will be able to establish himself at Liverpool. For me, that is beyond question. My answer is always clear: yes!

“I remember our first conversation with him in Simon Rolfes’ office very well – his parents were there too.

“Simon asked him, ‘Where do you want to go, what do you want to achieve?’ And Florian replied, ‘I want to become the best player in the world.’”

Wirtz joined Liverpool after already racking up 140 appearances in the Bundesliga and having firmly established himself in the Germany national team.

Arne Slot, in his first season at Liverpool, not only secured the Premier League title, but also impressed through his ability to eke out an extra dimension from even established stars such as Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

Wirtz may feel confident that he finds himself in the perfect environment to develop into the one of the greatest players of his generation, sooner rather than later.

He has, in some quarters, been labelled Liverpool’s own Kevin De Bruyne.