'No big fanfare or piano - Reds should keep the Wirtz reveal understated'

DON'T MAKE MISTAKE THAT MAN UTD DID, SAYS STAN

- By PAUL GORST

HAVING become the first Liverpool player to break the British transfer record in the Premier League era, Stan Collymore will know from first-hand experience how Florian Wirtz might be feeling just now.

The Reds recently reached an agreement with Wirtz's Bayern Leverkusen after around three weeks of intense and detailed negotiations between the respective sporting directors of Richard Hughes and Simon Rolfes and the Germany star is now awaiting the next steps to complete the biggest transfer of all time on Merseyside.

Drawing an arbitrary and imaginary line from the Premier League's 1992 advent does occasionally draw the ire of the more seasoned football supporter, but Collymore did break new ground when he completed an £8.5m switch from Nottingham Forest in 1995.

He became the most expensive footballer in British history at the time, before Alan Shearer nearly doubled it 13 months later when he signed for Newcastle United at £15m.

Liverpool's own in-house version has been broken seven times in 30 years but the former England striker's place in Anfield history could now eventually be wrestled away by Germany international Wirtz, whose £116m arrival will be made up of £100m up front and a further £16m in add-ons.