Former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has changed his mind about spending nine figures on a player, now the Reds have done it by capturing Florian Wirtz.
Wirtz has cost Liverpool an initial £100 million ($137.2 million), topped up by a further £16 million ($22 million) in potential add-ons. The total package makes him not only the most expensive player in Liverpool history, but the Premier League’s priciest ever player too.
Liverpool’s previous record buy was Darwin Núñez, whose transfer from Benfica was valued at £85 million ($116.6 million), including add-ons—not all of which are thought to have been triggered.
Back in 2016, at a time when Liverpool’s record transfer was £35 million ($48 million) flop Andy Carroll, Klopp said he would turn his back on the sport if a player was ever signed for nine figures.
“If you bring one player in for £100 million or whatever, and he gets injured, then it all goes through the chimney,” he said, almost a decade ago.
“The day that this is football, I’m not in a job any more, because the game is about playing together. If I spend money, it is because I am trying to build a team, a real team.”
That stance had clearly softened while he was still Liverpool manager, as during Klopp’s final summer transfer window with the Reds they had a £111 million ($152.3 million) offer for Moisés Caicedo accepted by Brighton & Hove Albion. It was only because Chelsea gazumped Liverpool with an even bigger proposal that the Ecuadorian midfielder ended up at Stamford Bridge instead.
Now that Liverpool have broken the barrier for the first time and Wirtz is the fifth player to join a Premier League club alone for £100 million or more, Klopp has accepted his comments are outdated.
“We all agree that we are talking about a great player here”, Klopp told German publication Welt.
“I know that I once said that I’m out if we pay £100 million for a player. But the world is changing. That’s just the way the market is. There’s 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 for a player. But the world is changing. That’s just the way the market is.”
For the ultimate comparison, Klopp moved clubs four times during a playing career that lasted 14 years from 1987 to 2001, and never commanded a transfer fee.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘It’s an Insane Sum’—Jurgen Klopp Reacts to Florian Wirtz Fee.
