Liverpool celebrated on Sunday, finally lifting their 20th top-flight title after winning the Premier League five weeks ago, thrashing Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield.
Though Arne Slot’s side have understandably taken their foot off the gas since sealing the deal, claiming just two points from a possible 12, sporting director Richard Hughes has been working overtime, driving any number of transfer deals toward completion before the window has even opened, before the 2024/25 campaign has even wrapped up.
With Andy Robertson on the decline and Trent Alexander-Arnold on the move, Liverpool have moved quickly to advance deals for Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who could dominate the wide flanks on Merseyside for years to come.
Florian Wirtz is surely the pick of the bunch, though, with Bayer Leverkusen confirmed to have received Liverpool’s first official proposal on Monday morning, worth in excess of €100m (£85m).
Barring something dramatic and unanticipated, FSG will get this one done. Let’s have a look at how he might fit in.
How Florian Wirtz will fit in at Liverpool
Wirtz is only 22, but he’s already forged quite the career for himself in his German homeland, posting 57 goals and 65 assists across just 197 senior appearances with the Werkself.
Last year, he won the Bundesliga with Leverkusen, invincible and indomitable, claiming the division’s Player of the Season award for his troubles.
Rarely does a player elicit such a captivating response from fans while maintaining an energetic and industrious approach to his craft, so intelligent and aware of his surroundings, both friendly and hostile.
As per FBref, Wirtz ranks among the top 7% of positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues this season for goal contributions, the top 7% for shot-creating actions and progressive passes, and the top 4% for successful take-ons per 90. As a result, he could fit into a whole manner of different positions down at Anfield.
Moreover, his productivity has been dished out with the consistency of a world-class player, the 2022/23 season standing as a lonely outlier due to his ACL injury, and injury he has bounced back from miraculously.
24/25
31 (25)
10
13
23/24
32 (26)
11
12
22/23
17 (11)
1
6
21/22
24 (22)
7
10
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29 (25)
5
6
Of course, every great playmaker needs a focal point from which they can direct their creativity, and Wirtz is no different. Darwin Nunez is “planning to leave” Liverpool this summer, as per Fabrizio Romano, and FSG have already identified their dream replacement.
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Well, Liverpool appear to have found the perfect alternative in Hugo Ekitike, with with reports confirming confirming FSG have turned their full attention to the Eintracht Frankfurt forward, who is now their top target.
Anfield sporting director Richard Hughes is going to need to roll his sleeves up to get this one over the line.
Why Slot wants Hugo Ekitike
Ekitike isn’t just on Liverpool’s radar; The Independent believe Chelsea are ready to make the focal frontman their top target of the summer transfer window.
It’s understandable. Described as the “next Mbappe” by journalist Graeme Bailey, Ekitike is an extraordinary profile, physical and rangy and with a killer’s instinct, but also gifted and stylish, creative in his approach and clever in his movements.
The one-time Paris Saint-Germain prospect has already demonstrated a head for thought-out career moves, jumping to the Bundesliga and flourishing. Still only 22, he’s excelled through his first full season with Frankfurt, scoring 22 goals and laying on 12 assists across 48 matches in all competitions.
Talent scout Jacek Kulig has mused that he can “definitely reach world-class striker levels,” and it’s an exciting thing to think about for those of a Liverpool persuasion. It might even be a signing on the level of Wirtz, providing Liverpool with a first-rate number nine for many years to come.
Analyst Ben Mattinson has even declared Ekitike to be “one of the best strikers out there” right now, and that he’s “ready to explode” when given the chance to perform for a high-level Premier League club.
FBref record Ekitike ranks among the top 9% of forwards for assists, the top 6% for shot-creating actions and the top 4% for progressive carries per 90, illustrating his elite capacity.
Indeed, this dynamic repertoire has led the data-driven site to list Isak as one of his most statistically similar stars. If this young Frenchman can be willed into the robust completeness of the Magpies’ main man, there’s no telling how devastating Slot’s team could become.
To be sure, Wirtz is an audacious capture for the Reds this summer, but Ekitike has the potential to reach the pinnacle of the game, and he’s every bit as exciting.
Ekitike isn’t there yet, but he has the trappings of a world-class centre-forward, now needs to take the right step toward reaching superstardom.
Where could this be? Chelsea could do with a striker, sure, but Liverpool have proven themselves the cream of the crop under Slot’s wing, with rising stars like Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo evidence that the French attacker could skyrocket to the top if joining the fold.
Given the level he’s already at, and indeed the troubles that have beset Liverpool at number nine in recent years, this could be a move as exciting as any at Anfield this summer – and that includes Wirtz.
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