Inside blockbuster Wirtz deal

How Liverpool beat back Europe's elite to secure statement signing of Bundesliga talent Florian

- By PAUL GORST

It was Friday, May 23, when Liverpool were gearing up for one of the biggest weekends in their modern history, when Florian Wirtz confirmed his intentions.

The Bayer Leverkusen star had been cutting a figure of serenity on his social media accounts, posting from his Corsica sun lounger the sort of post-season fare footballers usually provide their followers with.

Behind the scenes, however, Wirtz remained deep in discussions with his parents, Karin and Hans, to decide his long-term future. He stood at something of a crossroads.

At the age of 22, the Bundesliga player of the year had three options.

The first was to remain as Bayer Leverkusen talisman and lead the charge for a new-look side as they attempted to wrestle back the title they had won the previous year.

However, with his old boss Xabi Alonso now at Real Madrid, Jeremie Frimpong becoming a Liverpool player and Jonthan Tah with Bayern Munich, the squad was being decimated.

Wirtz knew that process was also set to continue, with Victor Boniface expected to be the next out the door.

The second option was to move to Bayern Munich and travel the path that so many before him had taken, joining the biggest club in Germany.

The Bayern behemoth have a long history of cherry picking the best players from their domestic rivals and for much of the calendar year, there was a belief Wirtz would follow.

The third choice for Wirtz was to expand his horizons and move to the Premier League, where new champions Liverpool had made it known they would be waiting with open arms if the 22-year-old opted to switch.