Liverpool could sign a bigger talent than Wirtz in "world-class" £84m star
Though Liverpool have exceeded expectations by winning the Premier League in Arne Slot’s first season, FSG chiefs will know that football is a fickle game, and pre-season projections will now rank Liverpool among the favourites for the 2025/26 term.
Well, sporting director Richard Hughes certainly isn’t resting on his laurels, having acted promptly to close on full-backs Jeremie Frimpong, whose transfer has been sealed, and Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez, the reps of whom are engaged in advancing talks with the Anfield side.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is officially a Real Madrid player, leaving his boyhood club to join Jude Bellingham as a key part of Xabi Alonso’s Los Blancos revolution.
Thus, reinforcing the wide flanks was necessary, but Alexander-Arnold takes more than just positional value with him to sunny Spain. Indeed, the Three Lions superstar is one of the most creative players of his generation, with Jamie Carragher once remarking, “It’s like having Kevin De Bruyne playing at right-back.”
1)
Trent Alexander-Arnold
259
64
2)
Andy Robertson
308
60
3)
Leighton Baines
420
53
4)
Graeme Le Saux
327
44
5)
Kieran Trippier
204
38
Liverpool need a new leading playmaker, and boy, have they picked out a good one.
Why Liverpool are signing Florian Wirtz
Simply: Wirtz is one of the best attacking midfielders in the world, posting 122 goal contributions across 197 senior Leverkusen appearances.
His labours in his homeland have even seen him awarded back-to-back Bundesliga Player of the Year awards, having helped his team toward an invincible title triumph in 2023/24.
Having beaten off Bayern Munich and Manchester City in the race to secure the 22-year-old’s services, reputable sources such as Fabrizio Romano have confirmed completion is on the horizon.
Make no mistake, this is a significant coup for the Anfield side, even though Wirtz is expected to cost around £110m, all told. He will dynamise and revolutionise Liverpool’s attack, reorienting the creative hub to a more conventional berth besides.
Below are a series of ways in which Slot could field Liverpool’s frontline next season, with Wirtz in the mix. However, uncertainty reigns over Luis Diaz’s future, with Saudi side Al Nassr making the Colombian a top target ahead of the summer transfer window. Barcelona also have a long-standing interest.
If the 28-year-old Diaz does leave, Liverpool would want to consider bringing in a replacement, with one rumoured target potentially even superseding Wirtz as FSG’s most exciting signing.
Liverpool could sign a bigger talent than Wirtz
Liverpool’s Premier League success has been an incredible thing, but it doesn’t mean Slot has led a flawless team to the title this term. Indeed, the Reds have been frustrated by forwards Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, both of whom are expendable.
Earlier this month, GIVEMESPORT revealed that Real Madrid’s Rodrygo could be within FSG’s reach amid the Brazilian’s consternation from being overshadowed by teammates like Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe and Bellingham.
Real Madrid would rather not part with their dynamic forward, of course, and have set a lofty £84m asking price which FSG will likely need to whittle down, should they lodge an official proposal.
Though Rodrygo isn’t an out-and-out striker, he is a “world-class finisher,” as per reporter Kyle Bonn, with an elite winning mentality forged in the Santiago Bernabeu furnaces.
At face value, it looks like the 24-year-old has endured something of a difficult season for Carlo Ancelotti’s Madrid. Indeed, the Brazil star scored just 13 times across 50 matches in all competitions, assisting ten goals too.
However, as you will see below, he’s proven invariably effective when unleashed from his favoured left flank, maximising his goalscoring quality.
Right winger
29
7
4
Left winger
12
6
6
Centre-forward
8
–
–
Though Wirtz tends to drift over to the left side, he’s more of a ten, placed behind the central striker to promote creativity. As per FBref, he ranked among the top 5% of positional peers in the Bundesliga this season for progressive passes and the top 4% for shot-creating actions per 90.
Rodrygo, fleet-footed and ferocious, would blast up and down the flanks, hopefully utilised from the left to enrich his goalscoring qualities.
His limited action this term, starting only 22 times in La Liga, as per Sofascore, hasn’t withdrawn from Rodrygo a sense of place among the modern greats, having missed only one big chance in Spain’s top flight, scoring six goals.
Furthermore, he averaged 1.6 dribbles per game and won 56% of his ground duels, speaking of a combativeness that could see him dovetail right into the Premier League, known for its rigorous nature, steely members.
Wirtz is a marquee signing for Liverpool, and that’s a fact, but there’s a case to be made that in Rodrygo, Slot would find an even brighter star. Not to the descredit of the German’s giddy talent, but the South American is something special, all right.
His versatility, deadly goalscoring ability and immense physicality all combine to suggest this is a player worth throwing the kitchen sink at. If Diaz goes, it could become a tangible prospect, and just imagine the chaos Wirtz and Rodrygo could inflict side by side.
There would be a certain degree of poetic justice to Liverpool bringing Rodrygo into their fold this summer, especially if Slot allowed him to play off the left flank, something he has yearned for but to little avail in the Spanish capital.
It would require the sale of Diaz, sure, but Liverpool could strike gold with this one, bagging an even bigger talent than Wirtz to aid their quest for unprecedented levels of sustained glory in Slot’s still-building project.
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