‘Florian Wirtz is definitely worth the money – he’s a little magician’

Former Liverpool goalkeeper Sander Westerveld believes club-record signing Florian Wirtz is well worth the £116 million fee.

The club shattered their previous best – an £85 million deal for Darwin Nunez – to secure the services of the Bayer Leverkusen playmaker and Westerveld said the “little magician” could prove to be transformative.

“He’s definitely worth the money, he’s a little magician,” Westerveld told the PA news agency.

“I don’t want to compare him with other players but he is definitely going to be one of the most exciting players next season.”

Westerveld was speaking at the opening of a Cruyff Court – created by the Cruyff Foundation which bears the name of the Netherlands great Johan – which has been named after him at Liverpool’s Lakeside School which caters for pupils with additional learning needs.

The expected arrival of Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez this week, combined with the arrivals of Wirtz, his Leverkusen team-mate Jeremie Frimpong and Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, will take the Premier League champions’ spending beyond £200 million.

It is owners Fenway Sports Group’s biggest transfer window spend since 2018.

“Finally, you would say,” added Westerveld.

“Last season they only bought Chiesa, so they haven’t spent in the last couple of years as other teams have but I think it was the right moment now.

“They said all the time ‘we only spend a lot of our money on players who are adding to the team’ and if you see Wirtz, Frimpong and Kerkez they are really exciting players.

“Wirtz is one of the best players in Europe and that is really helpful for Liverpool and it’s really exciting to see the team coming together now.”

Westerveld did not know his name would be on the Cruyff Court when he formally opened it on Monday.

“It’s a very nice surprise and I am proud to have my name on the court. I was tricked into opening it,” he said.

“All the legends, from Johan Cruyff to Rijkaard, Van Basten to Ruud Gullitt and Virgil van Dijk, have their names on courts so for my name to be in there is a big honour.”