Liverpool's £100 million summer signing Florian Wirtz insists he pays no attention to his mammoth price tag as he looks to help the Premier League champions defend their crown this season.
The German attacking midfielder moved to Merseyside from Bayer Leverkusen in a deal that could rise to a British transfer record-breaking £116m with add-ons.
Wirtz scored 16 goals and provided 15 assists for Leverkusen last season having played a key role in the German's club's double winning campaign the campaign before.
The 22-year-old is already Liverpool's most expensive signing eclipsing the previous best of £75m set by current club captain Virgil van Dijk when he joined from Southampton in January 2018.
But even if he also ends up breaking English record, Wirtz is adamant that he will not be fazed by such pressures.
"I don't think about it," he said I just want to play football and how much money the clubs pay between each other, it doesn't matter," he said after Liverpool's 3-2 friendly win over Athletic Bilbao on Monday which saw Coady Gakpo score two and Mohamed Salah the other.
"Of course the big challenge is to win the title again and it is the most difficult thing so [I will] try and just create chances and also work against the ball.
"I can also run a lot so [I will] bring this to the team and then with the ball I can make the team better and bring my team-mates into better situations.
"I came because I thought I could fit in this team and I am enjoying to play with these players and getting every time a little bit better so I am happy with how it is going."
Wirtz will be playing outside the Bundesliga for the first time having risen through the youth system at Leverkusen where he would end up making 197 appearances, scoring 57 and assisting a further 65.
He scored his first goal in Liverpool colours in their friendly win over Yokohama F. Marinos last week and hit the bar with a header in Monday's win over Bilbao.
And Wirtz is now looking to forward to the challenge of adapting to rigours of Premier League football. "I am a player who needs freedom on the pitch and the manager gives it to me because I have to respect the position and the players around me," he added.
"I will try to find the right places to be and the right spaces to get the ball and to be dangerous and create chances - I have not played a match in the Premier League but I am looking forward and that is why I came.
"There are some differences to Germany but I think there is also something I can learn and make me better so I am really looking forward to it.
"It's more intense and more physical, every player is really strong, really fast. That is what everybody is telling me."
Manager Arne Slot guided Liverpool to a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title last season and has been busy in the transfer market in a summer overshadowed by the death of Portuguese forward Diogo Jota in a car accident.
Apart from Wirtz, the Dutchman has also brought in the likes of left-back Milos Kerkez (£40m from Bournemouth), right-back Jeremie Frimpong (£40m from Leverkusen) and striker Hugo Ekitike (£79m from Eintracht Frankfurt).
While Luis Diaz, Jarell Quansah, Caoimhin Kelleher and Trent Alexander-Arnold have all headed for the Anfield exit recouping around £115m. Uruguayan attacker Darwin Nunez has also been linked with a move to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal.
But the Merseysiders could make their biggest swoop yet if they continue their pursuit of Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, after having a bid of £110m turned down by the Magpies on Friday, who value the Sweden international at £150m.
Isak missed Newcastle's pre-season tour of Asia with the club citing a thigh injury until it eventually emerged that the 25-year-old was considering a move away from Tyneside.
After training in Spain with former club Real Sociedad, Isak headed back to Tyneside on Monday morning for talks with Newcastle manager Eddie Howe as the rest of the squad returned from their pre-season trip to Singapore and South Korea.
"He's like any other player, we would expect him to come in and train as normal," said Howe before flying back to the UK. "You have to earn the right to train with us. We are Newcastle United.
"The player has a responsibility here to be part of a team and part of a squad - you have to act in the right way. So that is also at play here.
"We will make sure that any player does that to earn the right to train with the group. No player can expect to act poorly and train with the group as normal."
