The most expensive rookie in Liverpool history, Florian Wirtz expressed his joy when a former opponent at the Bundesliga, Hugo Ekitike was his teammate, after watching the striker's performance at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Ekitike with an initial transfer fee of 69 million pounds is currently Liverpool's second expensive contract this summer, after Wirtz. Both had the launch of Anfield when the Premier League champion welcomed Athletic Bilbao on Monday night.
While the former Leverkusen, Wirtz attracted the crowd with her skillful skill, Ekitike made fans stand up with strong running phases, notably the pass to create opportunities for Mo Salah to score in the first half.
Last season, Ekitike scored 22 goals in 48 matches for Frankfurt and he was expected to shine at Anfield even when there was more striker Alexander Isak, the player that Liverpool still actively negotiated.
“He is a really good player,” Wirtz said. “I really like to watch him play in Frankfurt and I am very happy when he decided to come to us.”
“In the training sessions, everything went well, and in the match, we also combined very well. So I was really happy to play with him,” the German player shared more about his new teammate.
In addition to playing with Ekitike, Wirtz also imagines himself as a creator for his teammates when Liverpool aims to protect the Premier League championship: “Of course, the biggest challenge is to protect the title, which is always a difficult task. I hope to help the team play better by bringing my teammates in better situations.”
Liverpool, the team without Virgil Van Dijk, Alisson, Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley in the match against Bilbao will clash with Crystal Palace in the Community Shield match at Wembley on Sunday before they started the journey to protect their English Premier League with Bournemouth at Anfield next Wednesday.
