Florian Friday - Wirtz Turns the Tide Red

The Wirtz Era Begins at Anfield

Wirtz did not choose money, he chose a challenge. Faced with the safe inevitability of Bayern and the uncertain allure of Guardiola’s City, he chose Liverpool, not out of romance but because it made footballing sense.

Slot did not dazzle him with empty promises. He offered a stage, a role, a plan. Be the fulcrum, the press-breaker, the game-tilter. The boy who helped end Bayern’s grip on the Bundesliga turned his back on them to help Liverpool rise again.

City’s pitch had the gloss but not the guarantee. Guardiola’s future is unclear, and so is any young player’s prominence in a squad where one hundred million pounds can sit quietly on the bench. Wirtz saw it for what it was. The idea of replacing De Bruyne was not enough. He did not want to follow, he wanted to lead.

At Liverpool he will do both. He joins the club that humiliated his Leverkusen side last autumn and never let go. The same club where his close friend Frimpong now waits, and where the crowd roar like the believers which Klopp emancipated then to from the doubters moniker.

This is not a gamble, it is a statement. Wirtz is 22 and already presses like a demon, creates like a veteran, dribbles with intent and passes under pressure better than almost anyone in Europe. He is not just a luxury player, he is the first line of defence.

Liverpool did not win a tug of war, they passed a test of conviction. And Wirtz, to his credit, also passed his.