Liverpool is ready to spend a huge £ 109 million on Bayer Leverkusen Superstar Florian Wirtz.
They quickly moved to try to acquire the services of the 22-year-old, who drove the German Giants Bayern Munich to move to the Premier League champions.
It will be a statement that Arne Slot signed after winning the title in his first season that was in charge of Anfield.
The Reds have already made their first move in the summer market, by recruiting Jeremie Frimpong.
The Bayer Leverkusen-Rechtsback, 24, switches to Liverpool for £ 29.5 million to replace onion Trent Alexander-Arnold that joins Real Madrid.
The movements come on the back of extra investments in the team with the new deals completed for Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.
Wirtz is considered a generation talent in Germany.
And next season he will bring a touch of unpredictable to Liverpool's attack.
Tactics expert Lee Scott believes that the arrival of Wirtz will help extend the career of one of their biggest stars.
Target threat
Last season Wirtz saw an impressive 16 goals and 15 assists in 45 games in all competitions for Bayer Leverkusen contribute.
His ability to create space for himself and to be decisive in the last third, was really noticed as a key to Leverkusen when they tried to retain their Bundesliga title.
He is dangerous in 1v1 situations when picking up possession wide or in the inner channel, or even central.
And when he moves in pace, he is a threat to his shooting at a distance with the ability to generate power and accuracy.
Positionally when he is in the attacking third, he does not really stick to one area and instead he likes to find himself space.
Looking at the current Liverpool team, it is likely that Slot wants to use him from the left of the three-part attack with Salah on the right.
This gives Liverpool effectively real game breakers on either side of the attacking three.
In the example below, Wirtz takes possession with the opposition, which Leiden, in a deep defensive block.
The thing that Wirtz makes different from most young attackers, because this defensive block is not a barrier for him.
He takes the ball and drives through the center of the defensive block before scored from the edge of the area.
We have increasingly seen that teams have to worry about the performance of Salah on the right for Liverpool.
This means that teams tend to slide their defensive blocks to that side of the field.
They want more protection against the Egyptian international and try to prevent him from going against a single defender.
Now, with Wirtz on the other side of the flank, opposition teams cannot overload their defense on both sides.
Next season Liverpool will have one of the most balanced and dangerous attacks in football.
Wirtz is also very comfortable in the inner channels when receiving the ball.
With rumors that Liverpool is also looking for an attacking left power, they can be heavily strengthened on the left side of the field to break down deep and stubborn defensive blocks.
In this second example, Wirtz holds the width and plays on the outside of the deepest opposition defender.
While he receives the ball in these positions, he generates real threat with his ability to drive in and finish.
Adding a Wirtz's quality player to their attacking options will increase Liverpool's output for the goal.
But it will also make it much more difficult for opposition teams and coaches to find out how they can defend themselves against them.
Creativity in the last third part
As we mentioned above, Wirtz ended last season with an impressive 15 assists in all competitions for Bayer Leverkusen.
Although his target output will be important for Liverpool in terms of adding direct threat to their attack, his creativity in and around the last third will also bring value to the Slot team.
Wirtz takes intelligent positions on the field to receive the ball and is often in a bag of space.
The fact that he is a threat to turn and drive to teams through the center of the field ensures that defenders are less inclined to want to be firmly defending aggressive against him while they run the risk of being finished quickly.
The fact that they will then have the tendency to sit against him, although he only gives him the time and space to find passes to surpass the line of defense.
Wirtz does not always play the obvious pass.
Here he goes wide and gets his head up and instead of shooting the goal, because many other players would be, he identifies that the better ball is a deep cut to the edge of the area to the incoming Aleix Garcia, which then scores.
One of the things that Wirtz makes such a dangerous player around the last third part of the field is that he seems to be able to slow the game and find time to get his head up to identify the best option.
He is rarely rushed even when he is under pressure, and he has the technical opportunity to stay on the ball and then find the right option at the right time.
Having a player who is a creative passer -by in their forward options will bring a different dimension for Liverpool into their attack.
Although they have Cody Gakpo and Luiz Diaz as options for the left side of their attack, both are more direct players who lack the ability to slow down the game and play the Killer Pass.
In the example below, Wirtz is in possession with a solid defensive block for him.
He sees the corner to bypass the entire opposition defense with a low driven through the ball to leave his striker behind.
Liverpool is clearly looking for ways to make itself less predictable in the attack.
Signing a player who is as creative and dangerous as Wirtz will make that happen for them.
Intelligence in the opposition half
We have argued that Wirtz is the kind of attacking player who can delay the game when they are under pressure and in tight spaces.
This is a sign of his game information and the fact that he has the technical level to be able to trust himself and his touch when he is under pressure.
He has a congenital ability to take the ball and make positive decisions with the ability to harm the defense of the opposition.
He can step on the ball and drive forward in the heart of the penalty area or he can play in the half turn and combine quickly or play the last pass to break the line of defense of the opposition.
In the example below, he comes on the ball in the NO10 position and immediately drives forward in the heart of the opposition defense block.
Although this may not always lead to a shooting opportunity for himself, it will attract defenders to him and create space for teammates.
He often scans and controls his shoulder in the last third part and this means that he will be in space over time to receive the ball, whether it is wide or in more central areas of the field.
This allows Liverpool to quickly move forward forward and to more dangerous areas of the field.
This time we see Wirtz intelligent spaces occupied in the last third and between the lines.
While he receives the ball, he has no defenders in a position to get him immediately and he can take the ball and give himself to the goal
Because Salah is perhaps the best if a front -face threat that likes to get on the ball when he gets the goal of the opposition goal, it is interesting that Liverpool adds a player in Wirtz who is more creative with his positioning.
Again, this signing makes planning matches against Liverpool a very difficult experience for opposition coaches.
Conclusion
Although the expected compensation for Wirtz will be extremely high, there is a feeling that Liverpool still gets a bargain when they sign the 22-year-old German international.
They will sign a player who can immediately extend the effective career of Salah and when they eventually go further from the Egyptian, they will already have their next attacking talisman in the building.