Liverpool star Florian Wirtz reveals he wanted Reds transfer in November as he talks 'not easy' decision
Liverpool have smashed their club transfer record to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayern Munich
Liverpool record signing Florian Wirtz has revealed that he wanted to make the move to Merseyside as early as November after getting a first taste of the famous Anfield atmosphere during the 2024-25 campaign.
The 22-year-old has made the move to Liverpool for a club record £116m. The deal includes a number of add-ons and will be a British record transfer if those are met.
Liverpool had a number of bids rejected by Bayer Leverkusen before getting a deal over the line for Wirtz. The player had been strongly linked with Premier League rivals Manchester City and Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
City withdrew their interest in Wirtz over reported concerns over the cost of the deal while Bayern were keen on the midfielder only to be snubbed in favour of Liverpool.
Florian Wirtz reveals he wanted to be a part of the Liverpool team since November
Wirtz made the trip to Anfield back in November for a Champions League fixture between Liverpool and Leverkusen under the lights on Merseyside. It is his only appearance against the Reds as Arne Slot’s side ran out 4-0 winners thanks to a Luis Diaz hat-trick and goal from Cody Gakpo.
And Wirtz has revealed, via the official Liverpool website, that he wanted to be part of the Liverpool squad after that game. He said: “It was really tough to play here. I was still thinking about the game when I spoke to the coach or the other guys. It was an example [of] how it can be here. As I said, it was really hard, we lost 4-0 and we had to run so much and lost almost every duel. I just wanted to be part of this team.”
He added: “Inside me, I was feeling this quality of the team and also the size of the club. Inside me, I was always thinking about this game. I could remember how it was playing here.”
Florian Wirtz addresses “not easy” decision to join Liverpool
While staying at Leverkusen was an option and with Bayern doing all they could to convince Wirtz to join them, the German international admitted it was a tough choice to leave his homeland for Liverpool. However, he revealed a sense of comfort each time he held talks with somebody from Liverpool.
He said: “Yeah, it was not that easy for me, for sure, because I am a German player, I play for the Germany national team. So, it was not easy for me to decide but I think the talks with the coach and Richard [Hughes] and everybody were, from the start or 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 per cent convinced I want to join Liverpool and it was the best choice.”