Jurgen Klopp has made his feelings clear on Liverpool breaking transfer record to sign Florian Wirtz
Klopp has spoken about Wirtz for the first time since his Liverpool move was made official.
Jurgen Klopp has made his feelings clear on Liverpool's decision to break their transfer record in signing Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.
The Reds completed the signing of Wirtz last Friday for an initial fee of £100 million, plus a potential £16 million in add-ons.
Should those add-ons be achieved, the 22-year-old would become the most expensive signing in English football history.
As it is, Wirtz is already Liverpool's record transfer, overtaking the £75 million that the Reds paid to sign Virgil van Dijk back in 2018.
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He was also targeted by Real Madrid and Bayern Munich but ultimately opted to join Liverpool on a five-year contract.
The Reds have already spent over £170 million on players this summer, with Wirtz joined at Anfield by his former Leverkusen team-mate Jeremie Frimpong and left-back Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth.
Former Liverpool boss Klopp was once known to be averse to spending significant amounts in the transfer market, telling reporters in 2016: "If you bring one player in for £100m and he gets injured, then it all goes through the chimney.
"The day that this is football, I'm not in a job anymore, because the game is about playing together."
However, the market has evolved significantly since then and, the German has stated, so have his own views on the matter.
Speaking about Wirtz's move and the size of the fee involved in an interview with German newspaper Welt, Klopp commented: "There is no question about it, it's an insane sum, and one that a player at Liverpool is aware of if things don't go well for two or three games.
"We all agree that we're talking about a great player here.
"I know I once said that I'm out if we pay 100 million euros for a player. But the world is changing. That's just the way the market is. He's an outstanding player who can give any club something great."
Klopp's replacement Arne Slot and Liverpool will no doubt be be hoping that his last sentence can come true next season.
Topics: Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool, Transfers
Ryan Smart