26 May 2025 01:29:11
Strange buy this Wirtz deal, even as an 'opportunistic' signing. No pressing need for the positions he plays and the price point make it more of a luxury buy than opportunistic. I can only assume he had relayed to city we were his English choice, can't imagine their budget was restrictive factor. Especially for their pressing need for him, I could easily see him as their new Silva 'type. '
Nowhere near a £120 mil player if anyone has watched the bundesliga consistently, I think the excitement is being perpetuated by the price tag rather than anyone having really watched him play consistently. Does anyone remember him against us in the champs league as a £120 mil player? Doesn't seem to be exciting me regardless of the price tag, someone like Mbuemo even though a different position would excite me more.
Very much looks like a lightweight Coutinho than a David Silva currently. I think it will take him a good while to adjust to the physicality of the league. Which may not be a major issue with our current midfielders available. For £120 mill I would expect a consistent game changer, from what I've seen of him, he's definitely not that. Perhaps the potential to be.
Funny how all the talk previous was about the critical need of buying a world class DM but this £120 mill price tag for Wirtz has stopped all talk of that from anyone. Still a significant need in my eyes regardless of Grav, Baj nowhere near the level and can't ever see him having the composure to be. Exceptionally poor during his loans, Jones could easily fill the void to a better level.
I think some real steel in the midfield is still our most important need currently, although no standout in that position, don't rate Zubimendi in a dynamic team, way too slow. I think solid interest in Diaz and Nunez is allowing us to go for the Wirtz deal in a more Gung ho manner than we usually do.
26 May 2025 01:54:34
opportunistic, to me, doesn't just mean a bargain bin buy.
It means the right player, for the right price and the right opportunity.
So if we have someone at Wirtz's level who wants to come to us, and the money works, then that is an opportunistic signing
And further, if there are potential outgoings, then of course it may embolden our pursuit for the players we want.
Like, it all makes sense. I'm finding your position really strange.
26 May 2025 01:59:01
Bryan Mbuemo has 1 goal and 0 assists in 7 games against Liverpool and you are judging Wirtz on 1 game? I like Mbuemo but Wirtz was the best player in the Bundesliga 1 year ago and is a potential superstar.
26 May 2025 02:10:29
I'll save this message Bob to replay to you in the next year or so.
I watch a fair bit of German football and know he is a special player. He will need to step up because the quality is much lower than the PL but he is 22 and is likely to get even better.
No one is worth £100m+ but this guy is one that most teams in the world would love to have.
26 May 2025 02:20:20
Hid metrics, playing statistics, when compared to lamine yamal of Barcelona are almost identical bar few percent in three areas.
Yamal is considered a massive player for Barcelona going forward, hopefully wirtz will be the same for us.
26 May 2025 02:29:20
Do you really watch him consistently? If so, I really don't think you would have written this post. Also he was quite decent against us in the champions league, at least he was one of Bayer's better players on a day when xabi was thoroughly outclassed tactically. It just feels like to me that you watched that game and made up your mind about him.
He is not a luxury buy. He won possession in the opposition half more than any other player in the bundesliga last year and came second in duels won across the entire field, so he has bite, he is not somebody who shirks challenges.
In my mind your entire post is not about the player he is and can be for us, it's just a long tirade scolding the club for splurging on a supposed 10 (and a 10 is stereotypically a 'luxury player') as opposed to the 6 you think we need (a 6 stereotypically being a 'pragmatic player')
26 May 2025 02:32:41
First, 120million for someone who is viewed as one of the best young players in the world doesn't seem outrageous.
Secondly, while I agree we need cover on the DM, signing Wirtz gives flexibility in our midfield (maybe move McAllister as no. 6 like Klopp did and play Szobs as no.8 with Wirtz as no. 10, for example) .
Thirdly, we don't know how the Wirtz signing will impact our transfers, if at all. And I tend to remember Slot saying that he expected more from the no. 10 position, so maybe that's why we looked into Wirtz? We won't know.
Finally, I don't think Slot was keen on signing a world class DM but mainly someone that may cover positions 6 and 8, which we may still look for. I don't think Slot is looking for a "destroyer" even if I agree that we need one.
26 May 2025 03:02:20
Bob is right though. A CM/ DM with some pace and power is a must. We were found out in many games this season where we got outbattled in midfield but managed to scrape wins. I do still hope we sign someone rather than using Wirtz as a marquee signing that no one really asked for.
26 May 2025 04:09:46
I’m not ‘scolding’ anyone ? I’m simply stating it doesn’t excite me as much as someone like Isak would for a similar price, because he is someone we definitely do/ will have a need for and he is a genuine game changer. If we go for both, even better.
I don’t argue against him having the potential to be ‘special’ he definitely does, especially with his age and being integrated into our team. However, I am basing current judgement on him on his current showing and as a ‘120 mil player. ’ He is definitely a luxury player in our current circumstance in that we have no real pressing need for his position. However he could definitely work with Szobo being cover/ rotation with Grav, I think we have seen Mac doesn’t suit the Grav role.
I think everyone of us would be saying it is an outrageous price if any other team were paying that for him. ? The only two players you could even remotely argue as it not being an outrageous price would be Messi and Ronaldo in their prime.
You can compare his stats to Yamals, however Yamal genuinely translates those stats into viable game changing moments on the pitch pretty consistently. Whereas Wirtz currently has more of a Coutinho impact, a moment here and there. Gerrard, Kaka, Messi, Ronaldo those are 120 mil players for me, consistent game changers at any given moment.
There’s also a massive difference in not shirking challenges with Bundesliga players after having a 2 week winter break in comparison to not shirking challenges with a telephone box like Dan Burn on a cold winter night where he’s taking more of your flesh than the ball in a tackle after he’s been pulling your hair all game and telling you he’s going to make you his new German girlfriend.
However, when he pops in a 40 yarder in the 94th minute against Everton to send them into the championship and win us the title, or megging Trent in the champs league for the winner, I’ll be changing my name and joining you in ridiculing this post as not ‘exciting enough a buy. ’.
26 May 2025 05:15:54
Do you watch yamal often? He has had huge moments on the highest stage this year but there are aspects of the game that I would say wirtz is superior. In my eyes,
Wirtz is a better finisher by far, yamal has excellent technique from distance but not so much at close range. In many other respects their stats and metrics are pretty much neck and neck to be almost identical, despite yamal playing over 500 more minutes this year. Are you simply saying this because yamal made the champions semis and wirtz didn't? Yamal has also had one year (this year under flick) when he has been consistently excellent. Granted he is still very young so that's to be expected, but before the euros he was not at this level.
26 May 2025 05:24:02
If what I am reading is true, we have been in contact with Wirtz reps since the beginning of the year talking to them and Slot's plans for him, if he became available. Doesn't sound like an opportunist signing to me.
We are losing TAAs incision in the final third and I also think we miss Firminio's class, skill and ability to unlock defences, Wirtz gives us that. Whether we sign another striker or not, I think Wirtz is a sensible signing that give us something different, someone with good passing and skill, maybe in the false 9 role.
As someone on here said, Slot doesn't seem to favour a Roy Keane, Mascherano, destroyer type DM, he want's a metronome that can break up the play, carry and pass the ball. I hope we sign a DM, so that we have Grav, Mac, Szob and Jones and another MD that theoretically can all play anywhere across the Midfield.
My hope's for this window are Frimpong, Kerkez a backup CB, a DM, Wirtz and a ST. This will be a very strong side.
26 May 2025 05:47:24
I'm confused by this post, but I'll offer my opinion too. I'm way more excited about this signing than any of the strikers were linked with, and if it is the case that this prevents us from spending money on Isak, I'll be doubly excited. I think the way slot has occasionally played szobo, Jones and occasionally Elliot (usually only sparingly when pressing for goal) is perfect for Wirtz and could have us playing dynamic exciting attacking football more regularly. Way more exciting than any striker who is very difficult to know if they will work out in the league/ team/ tactics. This is why I'm so against Isak because I just don't think a poacher fits in the team, and I don't think he can stay fit in given the running slot asks of our players.
26 May 2025 05:50:27
I wouldn't say we don't "need" this type of player. Maybe it wasn't as priority as other positions a. d definitely not one we initially would've spent this much, but as said before, it was more of an opportunistic signing for a position I do think could be improved.
We do need more goals, assists and creativity from a 10 than what Szobo was contributing. Wirtz should give us that and hopefully that allows Szobo to play further back in what seems to be better suited to him.
If we can now add a striker in front of him (granted Nuñez is sold) who can slot them in, then we should be able to score more than we did this season or keep a high level output.
And I don't think we need someone like Isak necessarily even though that would be amazing. Nuñez and Jota had so much service they didn't put in the back of the net. heck, even Chris Wood would've scored more in my opinion. With Wirtz you'd hope we create even more chances. I think someone like Reteguis would be solid.
I'd love a destroyer in the middle as well, but we just don't seem to be linked to those players at all at the moment so I guess it's not what Slot wants.
26 May 2025 06:35:20
Wirtz evades tackles and glides past players like Messi did. He is a generational talent in the making.
We have over 300m in sales to bring in, plus whatever the budget was anyway, so Wirtz is not going to impede the other incomings.
He could be bobby mark 2, and is a way better player than Coutinho.
26 May 2025 07:23:23
If the right player is available at the right price…… The club has been saying this for years.
He is a gifted and has tremendous skills and great work ethic and who knows how much he will improve over the next 5 or 6 years assuming a players peak is @28.
He was available, he is the ‘right’ player and the club (who are the judge of these things) think that the price is right (where have I heard that phrase before? ) .
Of course you can argue all signings are “opportunistic’ because there are so many variables : in the wanting to buy / wanting to sell / player wanting to leave current club / player wanting to join new club / other teams interested to name but a few .
All that said, apparently we asked about the player and his availability whilst negotiating the Frimpong deal so it seems like it was a deliberate act rather than stumbling upon an opportunity. At the end of the day, who cares? We look like we are getting (another) genuinely world class player. On the qt, I hear he’s that good that @25 reckons he might even get a game in the Everton reserves.
26 May 2025 07:34:40
Snuggle, isak is much more than a poacher to be fair, he can carry from deep, he can link up extremely well with other players, has a brilliant touch and is perfectly comfortable with one touch give and go football, he can receive the ball wide and skin a full back to cut into the box (as he showed against Everton last year), he is also capable of any kind of finish, from cute dinks and chips to drives and screamers, if we got him he would be perfectly capable of contributing to a fluid front three. The question with him is availability, work rate (can he make selfless runs and produce at such a high rate with perhaps less of the ball) and willingness to press.
26 May 2025 07:40:04
This thread is just unbelievable. Wirtz is exactly who we need. He’s a brilliant player who will also improve. There is no one better that we could have chosen. Within 6 months he will be our best player.
26 May 2025 07:51:35
Wirtz is good but he ain't stopping the Goal we conceeded. Hope we sign more than one midfielder. The world class "DM Lord Gravenberch" who should have sat infront of VVD / Konate to create an option for Bradley to make a pass was missing once again.
26 May 2025 08:24:06
How many times has ed1 say slot doesn’t play a out and out dm, I’m not saying he won’t but as said normally doesn’t and he’s in on the transfers not us.
26 May 2025 08:28:23
Everyone said that we need to find some more creativity once Trent leaves …… here is the answer!
26 May 2025 08:35:09
Bob, I see where you are coming from. A lot of the excitement in us fans is stemming from the fact that we are buying one of the most highly rated youngsters in the world. Previously we won't even try, specially after the whole Bellingham saga where we'd dream for months if not years that he'd be joining us, only to step away due to the finances involved. if the press is to be believed.
That being said, Wirtz has potential to be "special", and he is not an average player. Far beyond that actually. Yes he'd need to step up, and I believe he will make that step. I see this signing as more of a creative player needed to fill in the void that Trent is leaving. Let's not forget we'd often be asking for some creativity down our flanks or our midfield, for years. And this dude is it!
26 May 2025 08:58:23
We need players that help us win more games regardless of their position. If Wirtz helps us win more games then we need him.
End of.
26 May 2025 09:25:26
I'm not excited by him either if he shirks challenges after a two week winter break.
26 May 2025 09:31:45
If Slott decides we need to play a DM what's wrong with Endo, every time he comes on my stress levels drop.
26 May 2025 10:24:59
"Nowhere near a £120 mil player if anyone has watched the bundesliga consistently, I think the excitement is being perpetuated by the price tag rather than anyone having really watched him play consistently. Does anyone remember him against us in the champs league as a £120 mil player? Doesn't seem to be exciting me regardless of the price tag, someone like Mbuemo even though a different position would excite me more. "
Anyone I have seen that watches the German league have said Wirtz is the real deal. I have watched Leverkusen play a few times and Wirtz is absolutely incredible. And the fact that you drew some conclusion after one game vs us just confirms your closed mind and lazy view on players.
And to crown it all, you would prefer Mbeumo to Wirtz. Nos, if Mbeumo "excites" you over a top talent that City wanted like Wirtz then, do you, boo. Mbeumo couldn't lace Wirtz boots, mate.