Florian Wirtz sends major warning to rest of Premier League as fans react to his first interview as a Liverpool player

Liverpool's club-record signing Florian Wirtz sent a major warning to the rest of the Premier League as he conducted his first sit-down interview with the club's media channel.

The 22-year-old, who is widely regarded as one of Europe's best attacking midfielders, has joined the Premier League champions from Bayer Leverkusen in a deal worth an initial £100 million plus £16 million in add-ons.

On Friday evening, it was confirmed that Wirtz has penned a long-term contract believed to be a five-year deal worth £195,000-a-week, according to Sky Sports, although that figure could rise to £245,000 a week if individual and team bonuses are met.

Speaking about his move to Liverpool, the Germany international could not contain his excitement at the prospect of playing for Arne Slot's side.

“I feel very happy and very proud. Finally it’s done and I was waiting for a long time – finally it’s done and I am really happy," he told Liverpool FC.

“I'm really excited to have a new adventure in front of me. This was also a big point of my thoughts: that I want to have something completely new, to go out of the Bundesliga and to join the Premier League."

Wirtz added: “I will see how I can perform there. I hope I can do my best. I spoke also with some players who played there and they told me that it’s perfect for me and every pitch is perfect, you can enjoy every game. I’m really looking forward to playing my first game.”

Asked about his short-term targets with the club, Wirtz opened up on his ambitions.

"I'm not coming [to] have fun here, I want also to achieve something and give the fans what they deserve," he said. "Of course I want to keep going at this performance. So yeah, that sure gives motivation to achieve more.

“I would like to win everything every year. First of all, we have to do our work, I have to make my work. In the end, we want to be successful. Last season they won the Premier League so my goal is for sure to win it again and also to go further in the Champions League. I’m really ambitious.

“I see this as an opportunity for me to get better,” he added. “This was the right place for me.”

Here's how fans reacted to his first interview.

One said: "Elite mentality," while another commented: "Music to our ears! Salah is going to love this mentality."

A third wrote: "The right attitude from the off," and a fourth said: "'I didn’t come here to have fun… I’m here to win everything'. I love this mentality."

A fifth added: "Just the perfect mentality."

Liverpool conduct Q&A session with Wirtz

After the signing was announced, Liverpool posted a Q&A session with Wirtz on their official website. Here are a handful of his answers.

It's clear that you had some options this summer, including the chance to stay at Leverkusen. So, why Liverpool? Why is Liverpool the right choice?

"I just thought that it was the right point in my career to make the next step and of course I wanted to get to a club that is from the top three in the world, and in my opinion Liverpool was one of them.

"Yeah, I just saw myself in the best hands in Liverpool. I was really convinced by the people here, by the idea, and everything what the club offers me was really good. And in the end [it was] also easy to be excited for me to come to Liverpool."

Was the feeling you had after speaking to Liverpool that it was an easy decision to make?

"Yeah, it was not that easy for me, for sure, because I am a German player, I play for the Germany national team. So, it was not easy for me to decide but I think the talks with the coach and Richard [Hughes] and everybody were, from the start or from the very first time, so good and it just kept going like this.

"Every time I spoke to one of the [people from] the club I felt like, 'this is the place I want to be' and so in the end I was really 100 per cent convinced I want to join Liverpool and it was the best choice."

What did your family say about joining Liverpool?

"I think I was the first one in my family who was really into this club when they spoke to us or told us that they are interested in signing me.

"For sure, I didn't expect that Liverpool will be my next club but my family was supporting me and I didn't have to convince them about the club or something. Everything was so good and I wanted to join also a different league in the end.

"I think my family, they will love also to come here and spend time with me here and in the stadium. So, they will like it as well."

You've said in the past that you learn most as a footballer by playing at the highest level. Do you expect to improve as a player here?

"Yeah, this was also a big point for me: that I will improve my own personal level and physical levels because I think everyone knows that in Liverpool the players are machines – really strong and really physical.

"But I see this also as an opportunity for me to get better in this point so yeah, I just thought this was the right place for me."

You say about the players being machines, what was it like to play against Liverpool last November? It was a disappointing result but how was the experience?

"It was really tough to play here. I was still thinking about the game when I spoke to the coach or the other guys. It was an example [of] how it can be here. As I said, it was really hard, we lost 4-0 and we had to run so much and lost almost every duel. I just wanted to be part of this team."