Jurgen Klopp raises major question over Liverpool's £116m move for Florian Wirtz - and a challenge for Arne Slot
The legendary Reds boss is a vocal supporter of the club's swoop for the German superstar but knows success is no guarantee.
Wirtz inked a five-year deal with Liverpool in June as he made a £100million switch from Bayer Leverkusen - and that could rise to £116m with add-ons.
He was left out of the squad for their first pre-season game against Preston - a 3-1 win at Deepdale - despite other new faces in Giorgi Mamardashvili, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, and Freddie Woodman getting some minutes in. That exclusion was part of a deliberate fitness management strategy.
And the major question for Klopp is: where will Wirtz fit in?
'Yes (he will establish himself), although of course I don't know exactly which position Arne has in mind for Florian,' said Klopp.
There are an array of options open to Slot.
Arguably Wirtz's best position is as a central attacking midfielder. He played there most freqently for Bayer Leverkusen and that frees him up to impact play majorly - last season he scored 16 goals and assisted a further 15.
Alternatively, Slot could look to deploy Wirtz as a false nine, dragging defenders out and making more space for Liverpool's wide players to cut in - something Mohamed Salah loves to do especially.
Another idea would be to shove Wirtz out wide, perhaps to the left wing. This is not a position he is overly accustomed with, but given how Luis Diaz's future is up in the air amid interest from Barcelona and Bayern Munich, he could be asked to play there sometimes.
Alternately, Wirtz could be asked to play in a deeper role as a number eight.
This could make sense if Slot wanted to deploy a midfield three with Dominik Szoboszlai still given some free reign as an eight alongside him, with one star - likely either Ryan Gravenberch or Alexis Mac Allister - sitting in as a number six.
There is no doubt about Wirtz's destructive ability and as such Slot will likely want to maximise chances of getting him into dangerous areas.
But he will also be weighing up what suits the rest of the team. If Wirtz plays in attacking midfield, for example, then Liverpool would likely have two more defensive central midfielders, and that would raise questions for Szoboszlai.
After Wirtz signed for Liverpool, Klopp told RTL/NTV: 'This is going to be absolutely fantastic, I'm sure of it.
'It's very hard to strengthen a team when you're champions. But Liverpool have managed it.
'They've signed an exceptional talent in Florian Wirtz. I'm looking forward to seeing it. It's going to be great.'
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The Guardian
23 minutes ago
- The Guardian
It's staying home: England's road to Euro 2025 glory
Over little more than three weeks in July, from Zurich via St Gallen, and Lancy to Basel, Guardian writers have followed every step of England's journey across Switzerland during Women's Euro 2025. Under Sarina Wiegman, the Lionesses became the first England team to win a trophy on foreign soil. Here are our favourite pictures coupled with excerpts from our match reports and blogs. GAME 1: GROUP D 5 JULY, STADION LETZIGRUND France 2 (Katoto 36, Baltimore 39) England 1 (Walsh 87) England's goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, right, fails to save a shot by France's Sandy Baltimore as England stumbled in their opening game of the tournament. Photograph above: Michael Buholzer/AP. Click on the images below to reveal further captions. The hour mark was approaching when Sarina Wiegman rolled the dice or, perhaps more accurately, reached for the comfort blanket. A salvage operation of this scale had not been part of anyone's masterplan, but at least Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly knew exactly how to move the dial at a European Championship. They were the history makers at Wembley in England's most recent appearance on this stage; if it was going to be anyone, it surely had to be them. There were to be no heroics this time, even if Selma Bacha's late clearance was ultimately all that came between Wiegman's players and a draw. That statement is, in itself, illusory because the manager must face questions about her selection here. She had plumped for Lauren James's explosive gifts in the No 10 position, sticking to the claim that the Chelsea forward was ready to ramp up her recovery from injury, but the call backfired badly. England were misshapen and leggy where it mattered; the game simply got away from them and so, with another ill-conceived step against the Netherlands, could their Euro 2025 campaign. A positive reading might be that England were sharpened up here: given the jolt reigning champions sometimes Ames GAME 2: GROUP D 9 JULY, STADION LETZIGRUND England 4 (James 22 60, Stanway 45, Toone 67) Netherlands 0 England's Georgia Stanway celebrates scoring their second goal with Ella Toone in a resounding performance against fellow heavyweights the Netherlands. Photograph above: Annegret Hilse/Reuters. Click on the images below to reveal further captions. From shambolic to sublime, England brushed off fears of a group-stage exit with a thrilling and clinical defeat of the Netherlands. England know how to win knockout matches and that was the territory they had entered a little earlier than planned. They also know how to shake off a defeat against top-level teams, their 2-1 Nations League loss to France in May 2024 followed by a 2-1 win over the same opposition in Saint-Étienne four days later. They also knew they had lost opening games and gone far at the World Cup in 2015 and the Euros in 2009. Messages came in from former Lionesses to remind them of those things, the Euro 2022 group chat still active. The difference between the sloppy and slightly shellshocked play against France and the focused and aggressive football played against the Netherlands in a sunny Stadion Letzigrund was night and day. The threat of an exit had sharpened the minds and the passing significantly, and Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone dictated play from the middle and increased the potency of Lauren Hemp and Lauren James out wide as Andries Jonker's side got narrower and narrower. England's title defence is well and truly alive, but they will be cautious. Suzanne Wrack GAME 3: GROUP D 13 JULY, ARENA ST GALLEN England 6 (Stanway 13pen, Toone 22, Hemp 30, Russo 44, Mead 72, Beever-Jones 89 Wales 1 Cain 76 Ella Toone scores England's second goal against Wales in a widely-expected demolition job that sealed their place in the knock-out stages. Photograph above: Annegret Hilse/Reuters. Click on the images below to reveal further captions. Sarina Wiegman said her Lionesses side found a sense of 'urgency' to book their place in the quarter-finals of the European Championship with a comfortable 6-1 victory over Wales. 'This urgency comes [after the France defeat],' the England head coach said. 'You could see the togetherness of our team. We knew today would be a different game because we knew we would have the ball a lot. I'm very happy with the performance. We knew that Wales really wanted to fight and we tried to stay out of it. I think in most of the moments we did but in the beginning we were sloppy.' A key part of England's improved form during a tough Group D was a shift in gameplan from Wiegman and the coaching staff . One change has been the introduction of Ella Toone back into the No 10 role against the Netherlands with the ever-creative Lauren James moving out to the right. Keira Walsh, the Uefa player of the match, credited Toone for England's change in fortunes. 'She's come in and done an incredible job,' she said. 'People speak about her off ensively, but the defensive work she does for me and Georgia [Stanway] when she's in [the No 10 role] is incredible. She covers a lot of spaces that we can't.' Sophie Downey GAME 4: QUARTER-FINAL 17 JULY, STADION LETZIGRUND Sweden 2 (Asllani 2, Blackstenius 25) England 2 (Bronze 79, Agyemang 81) AET England won 3-2 on penalties England's Lucy Bronze scores a penalty past Sweden goalkeeper Jennifer Falk during the shootout after an epic comeback from two goals down. Photograph above: Martin Meissner/AP. Click on the images below to reveal further captions. The Letzigrund looks gorgeous under a pale pastel evening sun. The noise washes over the athletics track where Carl Lewis and Asafa Powell once broke the world record, and where Sweden are now flying out of the blocks and leaving England trailing in their dust. We do not yet know that in many ways this is simply the prologue, that this devastating early two-goal flurry is actually relatively benign in comparison with the carnage that will follow. We do not yet know that Lauren James will end up playing almost an hour in a double pivot. We do not yet know that Lucy Bronze will end up wearing the captain's armband on her wrist and kicking a giant credit card advert. Hannah Hampton, nose still unbloodied, has not the faintest inkling that this will end up being the greatest night of her career. But they all know something. Even if they're not entirely conscious of it. Even as an utterly shambolic England trail Sweden 2-0 and the obituaries for their campaign are being scribbled, there is a little knot of refusal there, a team with an entirely unwarranted calmness at its core, a team that against all the available visual evidence still trusts that everything is going to work out. Perhaps the hallmark of certain great teams is in sensing almost subconsciously when they are allowed to play badly and when they are not, when the level needs to be raised, when the stakes are at their sharpest. Jonathan Liew GAME 5: SEMI-FINAL 22 JULY, STADE DE GENÈVE England 2 (Agyemang 90+5, Kelly 120) Italy 1 (Bonansea 33) England won in extra time Chloe Kelly celebrates with Michelle Agyemang after scoring the winning goal late in extra-time. Photograph above: Jose Breton/NurPhoto/Shutterstock. Click on the images below to reveal further captions. Chloe Kelly said England's saviour Michelle Agyemang has the 'world at her feet' after the 19-year-old striker's late leveller rescued the defending champions in their nerve-jangling semi-final victory against Italy. England's remarkably late comeback, with Agyemang scoring in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time before Kelly's winner in the penultimate minute of extra time, booked the Lionesses a place in their third consecutive major tournament final. 'Big Mich at it again!' Kelly said to ITV Sport, discussing Agyemang's third goal in four senior international games since her April debut. 'She's unbelievable and she should have scored again: that one that hit the crossbar. She's an unbelievable player and she's got the world at her feet, a young player with a bright future and I'm absolutely buzzing for her.' The match was played two days after Jess Carter revealed she had received what the England team described as poisonous racist abuse on social media. The Lionesses said they were not going to take the knee before the game. Instead, the substitutes stood arm in arm on the touchline before kick-off, including Kelly, who said: 'I'm so proud to stand side by side with the girls in this team; Jess Carter and every single player in this team.' Tom Garry GAME 6: FINAL 27 JULY, ST JAKOB-PARK England 1 (Russo 57) Spain 1 (Caldentey 25) AET England won 3-1 on penalties Click on the images below to reveal further captions. Penalties: England 2-1 Spain (in the shootout). Now the pressure is on Spain and who else but Aitana Bonmatí? She steps up but Hannah Hampton saves!! Penalties: England 2-1 Spain. Now the pressure really is on Spain but England cannot afford to slip up here. For England it's Leah Williamson. The captain misses. Penalties: England 2-1 Spain. So Spain have a chance to level it again here. It's Salma Paralluelo and she misses. Penalties: England 3-1 Spain. Oh my word. These shootouts. If England score here they win the tournament. It's Chloe Kelly. Huge pressure on her shoulders and she scores. ENGLAND HAVE WON THE EUROS ON PENALTIES Wow. Oh my word. What have we just watched? Kelly clutch. Hannah Hampton unbelievable. Niamh Charles coming on in that second half of extra time and scoring a cracking penalty. The whole team able to stay present after saves from both goalkeepers. Sarina Wiegman has been an international manager for three Euros. She has won every single one. Sarah Rendell
BBC News
25 minutes ago
- BBC News
How are England placed for next Women's World Cup?
England may still be celebrating their second successive European Championship but it will not be long before attention turns to the next big challenge on the horizon - the Women's World years ago the Lionesses reached the final in Australia for the first time, losing 1-0 to Spain, and it remains the one gaping hole in their trophy Sarina Wiegman, who has now won the Euros three times, has twice been runner-up at a World Cup - once with the Netherlands and once with England - and will be desperate to go one 2027 the tournament will take place in South America for the first time, in Brazil, so what might the England team look like in two years and what are their chances of winning it? Which Lionesses might retire? 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It is impossible not to highlight teenage striker Michelle Agyemang, who has made such a big impression in a small amount of 19-year-old may only have five caps for England, making her debut in April, but she has already scored three memorable goals and played a pivotal role in England retaining their European she continues on her current trajectory she will be pushing Alessia Russo for a starting spot - although may have to displace her at club level first, with both playing for Arsenal. Wiegman could also consider playing them of England's most exciting young talents is Grace Clinton, who has long been tipped to become a regular starter for her country following her impressive displays at club 22-year-old Manchester United midfielder was given a starting role in the absence of the injured Georgia Stanway earlier this year, while Wiegman showed how much she trusted Clinton at Euro 2025 by using her as a substitute in all except the game against Wales, bringing her on in every knockout match when results were in the has been loyal to Keira Walsh and Stanway in midfield but they did not have as great an impact in Switzerland as at previous tournaments and Clinton could be the one to break up the Agyemang and Clinton, highly rated striker Aggie Beever-Jones, midfielder Jess Park and defender Maya le Tissier were also at their first major tournament. 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Who will be England's main rivals? It is hard to look further than the United States and USA team are now managed by Englishwoman Emma Hayes, who has restored them to the top of the world rankings after they dropped to fifth following their worst performance at a Women's World Cup in 2023, when they went out in the last to that they had won the previous two World Cups. They bounced back from their disappointment in Australia by winning the Olympics in Paris last summer, just three months after the former Chelsea boss took charge, and will no doubt be among the favourites to lift the trophy in meanwhile, are the World Cup holders and came agonisingly close to adding the European title with their defeat on penalties by England at Euro Switzerland they showed that at their best it is difficult for any team to live with them, while they continue to churn out world-class players with the performances of Barcelona midfielder Vicky Lopez, who has just turned 19, suggesting she will be one to watch in might also play a factor, with the American and Spanish players more accustomed to playing in hot weather than the Lionesses, whose players are mostly based in England. Yet when the men's World Cup was held in Brazil in 2014, Germany's triumph showed that a northern European team could still thrive in unfamiliar team who would be expected to flourish in that climate would be hosts Brazil, who will also have the added boost of home had a disappointing tournament two years ago, failing to make it past the group stage as Jamaica finished ahead of them. But just 12 months later they were impressive at the Paris Olympics, knocking out hosts France and Spain on their way to the final, and where better to end their search for a first international title than on home soil?When it comes to major tournaments it is also hard not to mention two-time champions Germany, while perennial underachievers France and former winners Japan are capable of competing with the world's best.
South Wales Guardian
44 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Neville urging fans of EFL clubs to back local small businesses
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