When Liverpool secured the signature of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen final summer season, the response round English soccer was fast. You might virtually sense the collective jolt from Premier League rivals. One of many world’s brightest younger footballers was becoming a member of a squad that had already cruised to the 2024‑25 title.
Even with a £100 million payment — rising to £116m with add‑ons — few questioned the funding past rival supporters or these unfamiliar with Wirtz’s Bundesliga exploits.
It has taken far longer than many anticipated, however Wirtz’s current kind strongly means that the participant Liverpool anticipate to construct their subsequent period round is lastly settling into his position.
Curiosity surrounded how he would match into Arne Slot’s system, but he supplied a promising glimpse instantly by registering an help 4 minutes into his aggressive debut. A slick go launched fellow newcomer Hugo Ekitiké to attain in opposition to Crystal Palace within the Neighborhood Protect at Wembley.
Nonetheless, regardless of Liverpool opening their Premier League title defence with 5 consecutive victories, their performances lacked conviction — and the identical was true for Wirtz. His expertise was obvious in scattered moments, however he usually appeared bodily overmatched, sometimes made poor selections, and struggled to kind the intuitive connections with teammates that had outlined his time at Leverkusen.
In Germany, Wirtz had hit double digits for each objectives and assists in again‑to‑again seasons. But regardless of Liverpool successful matches early on, he remained and not using a league objective or help past that early Neighborhood Protect second. Then got here a collective droop.
Liverpool collapsed right into a dreadful run: 9 defeats in twelve matches throughout competitions, successful solely three. Wirtz shone in Champions League victories over Eintracht Frankfurt and Actual Madrid — delivering two assists in opposition to Frankfurt — however the truth that each standout shows got here in opposition to opposition from outdoors England solely strengthened arguments that adapting to Premier League depth was proving tough.
With a heavy switch payment and a glowing popularity, criticism inevitably adopted. Pundits and rival supporters seized their probability, branding him “too light-weight,” “overhyped,” and “unsuited to English soccer.”
Slot, although, made it clear from the beginning that bodily adjustment can be important. When Wirtz left the pitch in the course of the 1‑0 win over Arsenal in August wanting injured, his supervisor clarified the reality: it wasn’t an harm in any respect.
“After 85 minutes, I don’t suppose he knew he may have cramp in so many locations,” Slot joked, describing it as a basic Premier League “welcome.” He pressured that even massively gifted younger gamers from overseas require time to adapt to the league’s bodily calls for — one thing Wirtz was engaged on.
His anticipate a primary Liverpool objective continued. He briefly thought he’d ended it in opposition to Sunderland when his strike deflected off Nordi Mukiele in a 1‑1 December draw at Anfield, just for replays to verify the shot was drifting huge. It was dominated an personal objective.
Indicators of traction got here in opposition to Brighton ten days later. In a 2‑0 residence win, Wirtz received possession 9 instances — three greater than any teammate — the best whole he had produced in a Liverpool shirt. And within the buildup to Liverpool’s conflict with Tottenham the next week, statistics instructed one other story: he had created 25 Premier League possibilities, a minimum of seven greater than any participant nonetheless with out an help within the 2025‑26 marketing campaign. Creativity wasn’t the issue — ending from teammates was.
An ideal instance got here in December at Stamford Bridge. Coming off the bench in a 2‑1 defeat to Chelsea, Wirtz conjured an outrageous reverse contact with the within of his left foot to arrange Mohamed Salah. It will have been a sensational help — if Salah hadn’t fired huge.
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However his breakthrough lastly arrived in opposition to Spurs. After regaining the ball, Liverpool countered, and Wirtz cut up the defence with a wonderfully weighted go to Alexander Isak — one other massive‑cash arrival nonetheless discovering his footing — who lashed residence to offer Liverpool the lead. Sadly, Isak’s momentum was halted instantly when Micky van de Ven’s try to dam the shot resulted in a damaged leg. Wirtz, alternatively, pushed on with rising confidence.
That Tottenham match marked one other milestone: it was the primary time he surpassed 100 touches in a Premier League match (105). He repeated the feat within the following sport in opposition to Wolves (106), the place he additionally lastly scored his first league objective. Moments after Ryan Gravenberch opened the scoring, Ekitiké slipped Wirtz by means of the center, and he calmly poked the ball previous José Sá. Reduction flooded his celebration, and his teammates’ reactions made clear how a lot the second meant.
Remarkably, his first objective got here together with his twenty first league shot of the season. Solely Bournemouth’s David Brooks (28) and Liverpool teammate Alexis Mac Allister (22) had tried extra with out scoring.
Ekitiké’s help was additionally one in all six objectives the pair have mixed on this season. Actually, Wirtz and Ekitiké have been concerned in additional objectives collectively than another Premier League duo in 2025‑26, with every participant aiding the opposite 3 times.
His bodily adaptation was exhibiting up within the numbers as properly. In opposition to Wolves, Wirtz contested 15 duels and received 11 — each private bests — pointing to how rather more comfy he had grow to be with the tempo and physicality of the league.
As soon as he broke his duck, the objectives started to circulation. He scored once more in a 2‑2 draw at Fulham and as soon as extra in a 1‑1 assembly with Burnley in early January. But it surely was his efficiency in Liverpool’s 4‑1 win over Newcastle United that actually appeared to shift public notion. With solely 52 touches, he managed a objective and an help, exhibiting he may affect a match with out dominating possession.
His dazzling first‑half footwork opened up Newcastle’s defence for Ekitiké’s equaliser at Anfield. His second‑half end — a exact, composed strike into the underside‑left nook following Salah’s go — gave Liverpool an important two‑objective cushion.
After producing no objectives and solely three assists in his first 21 Liverpool appearances, Wirtz has since exploded for 9 objective contributions (six objectives, three assists) in his final eleven. Since his revival started on December 20 in opposition to Tottenham, no Premier League participant has extra objective involvements in all competitions.
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So what modified?
One main shift is quantity of involvement. At Leverkusen final season, Wirtz averaged 83.6 touches per 90 minutes. In his first 20 Liverpool video games, that quantity fell to simply 63.9. Over his final 12, it has surged again to 81.9 — practically similar to his Bundesliga affect.
His touches within the opposition field have risen too, from 5.0 per 90 in his early Liverpool outings to 7.6 extra not too long ago. A contact‑map comparability exhibits he’s now working extra usually in areas simply outdoors the field, particularly on the left — areas he continuously used at Leverkusen. Accidents to Cody Gakpo noticed Wirtz deployed on the left at instances, and it appeared to deliver out his finest.
His bodily transformation has helped as properly. He has clearly added muscle, and his duel‑win price displays it: up from 36.2% in his first 20 video games to 45.5% in his final 12 — even larger than his success price in Leverkusen’s 2023‑24 marketing campaign.
Curiously, he’s now creating fewer possibilities (2.2 per 90 in contrast with 2.8 earlier), however the high quality of these possibilities has improved. His anticipated assists per 90 has jumped from 0.25 to 0.39. He’s creating much less usually — however extra dangerously. That probably displays a greater understanding with teammates and extra purposeful timing within the remaining third.
In a current BBC interview, Wirtz admitted he had hoped to adapt immediately to the Premier League. “I wished it to be an immediate success,” he mentioned. “But it surely didn’t occur like this, and I needed to keep robust in my thoughts.” He added that he reminded himself he hadn’t forgotten how you can play soccer — that the sport in England wasn’t fully alien — and credited these round him for supporting him.
Certainly one of his lowest moments got here in November’s 3‑0 defeat at Manchester Metropolis, the place he tried simply 24 passes in 83 minutes, his fewest in any league begin for Liverpool, whereas producing two off‑goal pictures and no possibilities created. With Metropolis visiting Anfield on Sunday, the timing couldn’t be higher for Wirtz to indicate how far he has come.
He has scored in 5 of his final six residence matches, and with Metropolis’s defensive frailty more and more evident, the stage is ready for him to exhibit definitively that he has arrived.
Slot praised Wirtz’s progress on Thursday, emphasising his bodily and off‑ball enchancment whereas noting that his technical brilliance was by no means doubtful. And on the identical day, Wirtz earned a nomination for the Premier League Participant of the Month award for January.
Given his huge price ticket, it’s simple to neglect he’s solely 22, with years of improvement forward. It’s far too early to declare him a assured Liverpool famous person — however the optimism surrounding his trajectory is way higher than it was in the beginning of the season.
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