This should have always been the plan with Florian Wirtz at Liverpool

Since bursting onto the scene with Bayer Leverkusen as a teenager, it had felt like a case of when and not if the German maestro would make the move to Bavaria.

Manchester City’s reported interest in the versatile attacker complicated things. They needed a successor to Kevin De Bruyne and weren’t shy about throwing around money.

He could’ve been the man supplying Erling Haaland for the next decade.

Wirtz, however, was convinced by the project presented to him by the reigning Premier League champions. He moved for a £100million fee and was, according to reports, sold on the idea of being the main man in attack for the Reds.

What was his best position, though? That particular question divided opinion. Some felt he would replace Luis Diaz on the Liverpool left to form a new, exciting dynamic on that flank with fellow summer signing Milos Kerkez.

Others felt he would replace Dominik Szoboszlai as the attacking midfielder in the team. The latter looked more likely with so many journalists claiming the German playmaker was convinced to move to Merseyside because of a central role pitched to him in initial talks.

Yet the left-side role probably suited his profile a little more, as well as ensuring the team was balanced.

At the start of the season, Wirtz replaced Szoboszlai as the team’s No10. The dynamic in the final third looked off. Understandably so with so much change in the team.

But you couldn’t shake the feeling that a few subtle tweaks could solve some of these issues.

The Reds needed Szoboszlai’s physicality and running power in the final third if they wanted to utilise a high press. Kerkez needed someone to dovetail with on the left and Wirtz needed a set position to get up to speed with the rigours of the Premier League.

The floating role in the centre of the pitch wasn’t doing him or the team any favours.

The obvious fix would’ve been to use Wirtz on the left, allowing him in many ways to replicate what he’d done for Bayer Leverkusen. Kerkez would’ve been able to do his best Alejandro Grimaldo impression.

This would’ve also allowed Szoboszlai to play as the attacking midfielder.

Slot resisted this initially but did give fans a glimpse of it in some matches. Against Real Madrid, arguably Liverpool’s best performance of the season, Wirtz was on the left and Szoboszlai was deployed as the No10.

And while the Dutchman hasn’t used the Hungary skipper as an attacking midfielder over recent weeks, it’s been Alexis Mac Allister in that position with Szoboszlai on the right, we are finally seeing the Wirtz-Kerkez dynamic on the left flank due to an injury to Cody Gakpo.

The switch coincides with Liverpool going on a four-game winning run. It also coincides with Wirtz playing his best football since the move.

He scored his first Premier League goal of the season on Saturday with what was the eventual winner against Wolves, finishing calmly after a clever bit of play by Hugo Ekitike.

It capped off a fine performance in which he completed the most dribbles (seven), created the most chances (three) and won the most duels (11).

Wirtz now has goal involvements in each of his last two outings for the Reds having assisted Alexander Isak in the win over Spurs.

Again, the former Bayer Leverkusen man impressed, completing the most dribbles (four), carving out two chances and finishing with a pass success rate of 91%.

He even caught the eye in the 2-0 win over Brighton in mid-December, the first game of this stint on the left. Wirtz carved out three chances, completed two of his three dribbles and won nine of 12 duels.

In the words of Taylor Swift: “It’s been a long time coming.”

The Liverpool No7 looks comfortable in that position. He’s already struck up an understanding with Kerkez.

The Hungary left-back explained as much after the win over Spurs recently, saying: “The last few weeks have been better because we've had time to gel and get to know each other. At the moment, there's a good connection between me and Flo [Wirtz]. We're playing good and I hope it keeps going. I like it because I have more freedom with Flo. We are moving, passing and playing a lot of one-twos.”

And Wayne Rooney, on Match of the Day, singled out the new-look dynamic on the Liverpool left after the victory over Wolves.

"I think he's had some really good performances this season, he's just not had the goals to go with them. He was really impressive today and took up some great positions. He's starting to get a real good understanding with [Milos] Kerkez. He was causing problems all game. He's showing glimpses of being a top, top player which he can be for Liverpool. I thought he was excellent today.

"I remember Bastian Schweinsteiger when he first joined Manchester United, he was surprised at the pace of the Premier League. He liked to get his foot on the ball and slow the game down, and sometimes you need time to adapt to [the league]."

Had Slot pulled the trigger on this idea earlier in the season, perhaps Liverpool would still be in the title race.

Wirtz looks readymade for the Premier League on the left and the Reds, since moving him there, have won all of their games. Their £40million left-back is now looking like value for money too.

The Premier League champions have had to rethink their plans but perhaps this should've been their plan all along.