Behind the Curtain of Liverpool's Wirtz Deal

Not a Delay, a Power Play

The Wirtz deal feels less like a transfer and more like a slow-burning epic. And I’ll say this now. I think it gets done this week!

I feel like I’ve barely been off the phone to German journalists for a fortnight. Every conversation ends in the same place. Both clubs want this, and the player is already halfway to Merseyside in his mind. The numbers are the sticking point, but we’re not talking chasms here. It is the usual scrap over add-ons and payment structures. The kind of details that feel like nothing until they are everything.

What Liverpool are doing is not hesitation. It is control. You do not roll over at this level, not even for a lad as good as Wirtz. And make no mistake, he is that good. The best out of Germany in a generation, some are saying. You pay what he is worth, but you do it on your terms. And that is exactly what is happening.

There is also the staging. Liverpool know this is not just about getting him through the door. It is about showing the world that he walked past City, Bayern and whoever else to get there. It is branding, yes, but it is also football. Big clubs sign big players with purpose. This is going to be loud.

So yes, the wait is dragging. But it is dragging for the right reasons. Every million saved now might be five saved in the next window. Every moment spent shaping the announcement is a message to the rest.

Wirtz is coming. The club know it. He knows it. Leverkusen know it. It is just about getting it done with style. And style, as ever, takes a little time.