The legacy that Florian Wirtz leaves behind

In a league that has grown accustomed to measuring success by transfer fees, Wirtz leaves behind a genuine example of sporting success.

Considering the biblical scale of the money involved, it seemed rather fitting that the news of Florian Wirtz’s confirmed move to Liverpool happened when I was sitting in a church. Or, at least, an old church that had been converted into a home many years ago. Despite my best efforts to turn off all distractions from the outside world last week, the shockwaves of the former Bayer Leverkusen star’s move to Merseyside could still be felt on the somewhat remote southern shores of the Isle of Skye.

Of course, the news was anything but “new”. As seems to be the case with modern football, transfer stories only really hold true value when they’re fresh and unexpected. By the time Wirtz had signed on the dotted line and posed in the famous Anfield red, the story itself was a foregone conclusion. Rather than jubilation in the streets of Liverpool, the club’s statement on Friday was instead met with widespread relief from fans of the English club and little more than a raised eyebrow and shrug of the shoulders from the rest of the sport.

That’s entirely understandable. The transfer market and the incessant rumour mill that lives off its activity grinds even the most intriguing and monumental transfers down into monotonous, day to day updates. Like chopping up great works of art and handing out pieces of it each day to bewildered people in the street, the modern game has unquestionably removed the emotion of the great reveal in favour of banal and tedious 24/7 coverage on social media.

And so the Wirtz reveal was somewhat underwhelming. But while the player’s future in the Premier League is wide open to speculation and prediction, his past has now been set in stone. And what the former Leverkusen star leaves behind for German football is not only some wonderful memories and a highlights reel as long as the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings, but also a fascinating and genuine legacy that should hopefully lay the groundwork for the Bundesliga’s next global star.