'You can plant a lot of trees with it' - Thomas Muller says Liverpool paid 'unreal' fee for Florian Wirtz as Bayern Munich legend gives verdict on mega transfer from Bayer Leverkusen

Bayern Munich icon Muller has commented on Wirtz's record-breaking transfer to Liverpool with a philosophical assessment. Bayern were among the teams who expressed interest in signing the young German attacking midfielder, but Liverpool eventually won the race and signed him for a fee reported in the region of £116 million (€137m/$158m).

Having spent 10 years at the Koln academy, Leverkusen snapped up Wirtz in January 2020, with the-then 16-year-old immediately breaking through into the first team. In five-and-a-half seasons at the BayArena, Wirtz made 197 appearances and scored 57 goals, playing an instrumental role in Die Werkself's first-ever league title at the end of the 2023-24 season. Liverpool paid a British record fee last month, with Wirtz now set to light up Anfield and the Premier League.

Speaking on the exorbitant transfer fee paid for Wirtz's services, Muller told CBS: "What's 150 million? It's unreal. It's just a number between clubs. Who can feel what 150 million means? You can't get Neymar (who moved from Barca to PSG for €222m in 2017), but you can plant many trees with that."

However, Muller has no doubt that Wirtz will quickly settle in at the English champions, adding: "Florian fits in everywhere. He's not only a very good footballer, but also mentally very strong. At the end of the day, we're used to dealing with [big transfer fees]. The expectations are so high anyway."

While Wirtz is about to start pre-season training with Liverpool, Muller is currently still playing for Bayern in the Club World Cup. On Saturday, the German champions will face Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in a quarter-final clash. Muller will leave Die Roten after the tournament, having spent a total of 25 years with the club. It is still unclear where he will continue his career, but a move to the MLS is considered likely.