Florian Wirtz explains why he chose Liverpool – “the top 3 in the world”

Florian Wirtz had his pick of clubs and chose to join Liverpool. Now, he has explained why he decided to move to Merseyside.

Man City wanted him. They lost out due to doubts over how long Pep Guardiola would remain in charge.

Real Madrid were interested. They stepped down upon hearing Wirtz preferred Anfield.

Bayern Munich thought they had him. They didn’t get him because Liverpool offered a better project and a new league.

Wirtz, himself, was asked by the club’s official website why Liverpool was the place for him.

He said: “I just thought that it was the right point in my career to make the next step.

“I wanted to get to a club that is from the top three in the world, and in my opinion Liverpool was one of them.

“I just saw myself in the best hands in Liverpool. I was really convinced by the people here, by the idea, and everything what the club offers me was really good.

“And in the end [it was] also easy to be excited for me to come to Liverpool.”

Joining Bayern, the champions in his home country, would have been an easy, well-trodden path to walk, but instead, the 22-year-old decided to follow teammate Jeremie Frimpong to Anfield.

“It was not that easy for me, for sure, because I am a German player, I play for the Germany national team,” Wirtz added.

“So, it was not easy for me to decide but I think the talks with the coach and Richard [Hughes] and everybody were, from the start or from the very first time, so good and it just kept going like this.

“Every time I spoke to one of the [people from] the club I felt like, ‘this is the place I want to be’ and so in the end I was really 100 percent convinced I want to join Liverpool and it was the best choice.”

Wirtz will now return to Germany to continue his post-season holiday before his Liverpool career properly begins in July.

Liverpool supporters could get their first chance to see their new record signing on the pitch, as the Reds play Preston in a friendly at Deepdale on July 13.