Why Liverpool are pleased with £116m Florian Wirtz's development - and their main objective for his season after only seeing 'artistry' in patches

In late May, Arne Slot flew to the south of France. Not for another holiday, after multiple post-season (and mid-season) jaunts to Ibiza, but for a business meeting with the man he thought could be the man to elevate his Premier League champions.

Around the same time, the parents of one of the best creative sparks in Europe were flying to England, jetting from Maastricht to Blackpool, to meet with delegates from one of the Premier League's north-west giants.

No, not what you are thinking… on either count.

Slot was meeting with Rayan Cherki, the effervescent Lyon midfielder now at City who, meanwhile, were in talks with Florian Wirtz, the German superstar who went on to complete a £116million move to Liverpool.

Neither move really got off the ground despite clear interest but the point is that, in a parallel universe not too far away from ours, Sunday could have seen Wirtz wearing blue and Cherki red as the two men lock horns at the Etihad Stadium.

The pair have had stop-start beginnings in England but are starting to show signs of why they were both on the shopping lists of this country's two most successful clubs of the last decade (plus many other continental juggernauts).

Wirtz is yet to record a goal or assist in the Premier League but put in his best performance of the season against Real Madrid on Tuesday, while Cherki has spent most of the campaign out injured but two assists last week and a goal on Wednesday show he is finding his feet.

Cherki, though, will not be held to the same standard. After all, City spent £34m on the Frenchman, whereas Wirtz was £116m. When you arrive for a nine-figure sum like the former Bayer Leverkusen man, your every move is scrutinised.

But Liverpool are understood to be pleased with Wirtz's development in a Reds shirt despite his relatively slow start to life on Merseyside in terms of the cold, hard numbers of goals or assists – which is the be-all-and-end-all for creative midfielders in 2025.

Wirtz, who is the youngest of 10, has the backing of his family, too. His parents Hanz and Karin, his agents, are always demanding more but think he is doing better than the numbers suggest. They always expected an adaptation period but think he is grasping the demands now.

Slot has taken a leaf from his idol Pep Guardiola's book on how to deal with Wirtz, too. Two likely starters on Sunday, Phil Foden and captain Bernardo Silva, were both shoved out on the wing for somewhat of a Premier League apprenticeship before they could flourish in the middle.

That is not to say Wirtz will be on the left wing for several years – just that it helps the balance of the team more right now with pressing king Dominik Szoboszlai, who Slot on Friday described as 'outstanding', as the No 10.

The head coach also rubbished suggestions from Arsene Wenger this week who, clearly, is one of the greatest managers of his or any era but is perhaps losing his marbles slightly as he gets older.

Wenger was suggesting that Slot had 'destroyed' his midfield to accommodate Wirtz but the Liverpool boss said: 'If I need open-heart surgery, I am not going to tell the surgeon what he needs to do but about football everyone is telling you what the best thing is to do.

'I think we have five or six very good midfielders who can all play together but they need to play more together to get the best out of every single player. Florian, he needs time to adapt to his teammates, team-mates need time to adapt to him.'

Liverpool see the main objective for Wirtz this season as a physical one – can they bulk him up to the Premier League standard? Can they build up his base level of fitness so he can play at a high intensity three times a week?

'To say that he's an artist doesn't do him justice,' Slot said on Wirtz in September. 'He is an artist, but he can be mean as well. Otherwise, you can't reach the levels he has reached. He works incredibly hard here in this building to get better and better. He's not going to hide.'

So far, we have only seen his art in patches but the signs on Tuesday were that things are starting to click together. In beating Real Madrid, the German put in his best display of the season, running 11.37km, more than any player on the pitch, and creating the most chances.

His opponent on Sunday will likely be Matheus Nunes, who was rock solid against in-form Antoine Semenyo last weekend and has barely put a foot wrong all season, but has looked shaky at times when playing at right back for City in the last 12 months.

The one man who knows Wirtz as a player better than anyone is Xabi Alonso, now Real Madrid boss but formerly a colleague in Leverkusen, who said on Monday: 'For sure he will be a success.

'He is so special and one of the reasons I am here is because of Flo, so I am grateful to him. Hopefully he starts showing his class.'

But despite a slow-ish start to life in England, there is a reason many in the industry ranked the signing of Wirtz as the best of the window not just at Liverpool but around Europe, despite a £125m move for striker Alexander Isak on Deadline Day.

The £116m fee is not fazing Wirtz and there is banter at the training ground about how, with inflation, more senior players would have cost the same if they were signed now rather than five or so years ago.

Slot and captain Virgil van Dijk both spoke to Wirtz, plus the parents, to highlight what the Liverpool project was and he turned down City, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid to move to Anfield. That, in itself, is an almighty statement.

Bayern was his most-likely move but he wanted to challenge himself, he could have easily followed Alonso to Madrid and then turning down City, who sold him a role as Kevin De Bruyne's successor, was not an easy decision – but it felt right for the player, Germany's poster boy.

At the time, City sources indicated the finances did not work for them but they would have known all along it was not a cheap move. To avoid confusion, he politely declined City because Slot's Liverpool just seemed a more appealing destination.

It left City with a clear run at Cherki. They will argue they could buy four of the Frenchman for one Wirtz. But knowing they could have easily been in each other's shoes, who will come out on top when the pair meet on Sunday?