9 hours ago
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Sir Kenny Dalglish has urged Florian Wirtz to just be himself as he looks to deal with the pressure of becoming Liverpool's most expensive signing of all time.
The Reds pulled off a major coup earlier in the transfer market when they staved off competition from the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich to sign the Germany international.
Liverpool committed an initial £100 million ($135 million) to the deal with a possible further £16 million ($22 million) to come in performance-related add-ons.
If all of those add-ons are triggered, Wirtz, as things stand, will become the most expensive signing in Premier League history.
One player who knows about dealing with the pressure of big expectations at Liverpool is Dalglish, but he has told the 22-year-old to just be his own man.
“I don’t know if he can expect the same as me. I came in the year after they’d won the European Cup as well," Dalglish said. “Kevin Keegan moved away. He asked to go and he moved to Hamburg. I only came in and tried to be myself. You’ve got a better chance of being yourself than trying to impersonate someone else.
“I think it’s the same for anybody that moves to the football club. If you move from one to another, just be yourself because that’s the reason why you’re there. They wouldn’t have picked you if you were something different.”
Dalglish added: “I’m sure he’ll approach them (new challenges) very positively. I mean I’ve not seen a great deal of him, but he comes with very good references and I’ll back Arne’s judgement.
“At the end of the day, obviously you can’t pre-empt anything, but hopefully there will be big smiles on everybody’s faces when it comes towards the end of the season.”
Wirtz is currently in China alongside his new teammates, as the team prepares for pre-season games against AC Milan and Yokohama F. Marinos.
Wirtz is not the only new face in the squad, with Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and Giorgi Mamardashsvili among the players also getting to know their new teammates, and Dalglish thinks the trip should be a good bonding exercise.
“Yeah, it’s always good. I mean, when you sign, you’re obviously staying in a hotel; you’ve not even got a house," Dalglish added. “So I think they just need to get in and around each other, spend as much time as they can together, get to know each other, train with each other, the better it’s going to be for everybody. Not just the person who comes in but the people that you’re going to play with.
“They’ve got to understand what you are and you’ve got to understand them, and I don’t think that will be a problem for any of them because it’s a good squad of players that are there, off the pitch.”
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