Arne Slot has insisted that Florian Wirtz must reach the standards set by Mohamed Salah to fulfil Liverpool's expectations of their new record signing. Wirtz, who joined from Bayer Leverkusen for a club-record £100m, will make his Premier League debut on Friday against Bournemouth.
Slot praised the 22-year-old's adjustment, saying it went better than expected, but acknowledged that a true assessment will take time. He highlighted Salah's consistency and fitness as benchmarks, noting that the Egyptian has scored nine goals in seven opening-day fixtures, a Premier League record.
When asked if Wirtz is a signing to take Liverpool to the next level, Slot replied: 'That is something I can only answer in the upcoming years. Everything we expect is very positive, but between expecting and realising something is different.' He added that Wirtz must first prove his fitness in the Premier League.
Slot denied that Wirtz is a statement signing, pointing to previous big-money deals for Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk. He described Wirtz as a different profile to what Liverpool already have, and said the club's summer spending will pass £300m with the addition of Giovanni Leoni from Parma.
On the summer of change at Anfield, Slot addressed the departures of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Caoimhín Kelleher, Jarell Quansah, Luís Diaz, and Darwin Núñez, saying replacements were necessary and that the club did well to bring in the players they wanted.
