Florian Wirtz and the sheer excitement of signing *the* player

The sun is shining, the fixtures are out, and Liverpool Football Club – Champions of England – have just signed the best young attacking midfielder in Europe. Imagine not being us!

I’m trying to think about the last time this happened. The last time the available talent, the hype player picked us over an elite field all chasing his signature. The last time we went out and just got him.

Virgil van Dijk maybe? It’s different with defenders. It’s not as exciting. Salah was considered good-to-great, but few envisioned the record breaking, history making living legend he’d become. We had the privilege of learning how good he was first hand, over many years. The first time we saw Alisson play at Anfield we smacked five past him in about half-an-hour in a European Cup semi-final. Turns out that wasn’t a fair reflection.

But when was the last time we went out and got him. The exciting, young attacking talent who’d lit up his national league and had all the elite clubs coveting his signature? It was probably Fernando Torres in 2007, right?

There’s a sheer excitement that comes from seeing arguably the most sought-after available talent in world football unequivocally choosing Liverpool. And Liverpool slapping down an obscene record fee to get him. People worry about that stuff. Not me! Show me those statements of intent all day.

There’s extreme satisfaction to be taken from Wirtz rocking up at the AXA and telling the rest of the football world “I saw myself in the best hands at Liverpool”, that the decision to come to Liverpool was an easy one. We should all be rubbing our hands together at that.