equally fawning<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cLiverpool signing the best in the market shows benefit of buying from a position of strength,\u201d its analysis read.<\/p>\n
It added: \u201cFlorian Wirtz has joined Liverpool for a club-record fee, but the deal makes sense for the Premier League champions; the German international is world-class, and while their rivals must look for value, they are able to prioritize quality.\u201d<\/p>\n
All the analyses may prove correct, and Wirtz will be as valuable as suggested.<\/p>\n
But the embarrassing lack of consistency looks biased.<\/p>\n
It suggests the media has fallen for the narrative that Liverpool is somehow a spendthrift superpower, contrasting to Chelsea, which blasts the British record fee left, right, and center.<\/p>\n
Quite why they\u2019ve failed to scrutinize the Reds to the same extent is anyone\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n
I suggest John Henry and FSG take it as a win and give their PR department a pay rise.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve played their part in successfully pushing the story they want to be told to the extent that the British media regurgitates it without prompting.<\/p>\n
A Shift In Strategy And Statement of Intent<\/p>\n
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 27: A fans of Liverpool display a banner which reads “FSG, he fires a … More bow! Now give Mo his Dough” during the UEFA Champions League 2024\/25 League Phase MD5 match between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid C.F. at Anfield on November 27, 2024 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s not get it wrong. Liverpool\u2019s $150 million signing of Florian Wirtz is the biggest statement of intent by a new defending champion in a generation.<\/p>\n
Sure, Manchester City acquired Erling Haaland as they sauntered to the title in 2022 and Chelsea bought Andriy Shevchenko in 2006 after claiming its second Premier League under Jose Mourinho.<\/p>\n
But both deals were done by a perennial big spender who\u2019d already defended the title.<\/p>\n
Liverpool\u2019s acquisition of Germany\u2019s most exciting prospect will send shockwaves across the division.<\/p>\n
Under the leadership of Fenway Sports Group, the club has made expensive moves in the transfer market, such as the $100 million purchase of Virgil Van Dijk.<\/p>\n
However, as such deals were always for players on the journey to reach their full potential, they were not established names, and they played into FSG\u2019s brand at Liverpool, which is sensible spending.<\/p>\n
As owner John Henry said in 2023, \u201cWe continue building at Liverpool Football Club in a responsible manner.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen many football clubs (including LFC previously) go down unsustainable paths. We have and will continue to focus our attention on investing wisely in the transfer market.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat has been the case since day one in 2010. Our efforts every day have been and continue to be focused on the long-term health and competitiveness of the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cInvestment in the club is never for the short term. This approach has been successful over the long haul with patience necessary from time to time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henry advocates this approach so much that he refuses to limit it to his club alone, suggesting the rest of the Premier League be forced to adopt it.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThe league itself is extraordinarily successful and is the greatest football competition in the world, but we\u2019ve thought for some time there should be limits on spending so that the league doesn\u2019t go the way of European leagues where one or two clubs annually have little competition.<\/p>\n
However, this summer, it will spend $150 million on one player and add Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong for a further $100 million.<\/p>\n
The deal for Wirtz alone is so astronomical that Manchester City and Bayern Munich were perturbed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m honest, I don\u2019t know if we could have paid what Liverpool are apparently paying now,\u201d Bayern\u2019s director of sport, Max Eberl, told Sky Germany.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlorian Wirtz is an outstanding player. We could have imagined signing him. But when a door closes, another opens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spinning a line about money to the media about a particular player after they\u2019ve elected to move somewhere else is an age-old technique in soccer.<\/p>\n
But Eberl might want to learn from the PR masters at Liverpool because right now, it\u2019s their story that\u2019s winning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KIRKBY, ENGLAND – JUNE 20: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Florian Wirtz is unveiled as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,885,393,2912,32882,4884,78587,179,89712,101,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-227928","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-chelsea","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-florian-wirtz","12":"tag-fsg","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-john-henry","15":"tag-liverpool","16":"tag-moises-caciedo","17":"tag-premier-league","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114775157982230722","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Liverpool](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/960x0.jpg\")
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