Liverpool haven’t looked their best to start the 2025-26 season but, for the most part at least, the results have been good. Or at least they were up until the week heading into the October international break when the Reds dropped three on the trot, losing twice in the Premier League and once in the Champions League.
That’s a situation that feels somewhat mirrored by the start for marquee summer signing Florian Wirtz, who signed from Bayer Leverkusen in a blockbuster £125M deal. Wirtz has mostly played well—but he’s yet to hit the heights he did in Germany. And he doesn’t have a goal or assist in 650 league and European minutes.
With that as the background, former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp recently came to Wirtz’ defence and said that he isn’t especially worried. That for a player as good as Wirtz clearly is, it’s a matter of when things click rather than if. National team manager Julian Nagelsmann has now also sought to back the attacker.
“Even though he hasn’t scored any goals, he is still the player who creates the most chances in the Premier League,” Nagelsmann said of Wirtz ahead of Germany’s World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland. “It’s not his fault if his teammates don’t convert them, and the statistics don’t even tell the whole story.
“Wirtz still needs to get used to a new league. We saw how good he was before [at Bayer Leverkusen] playing with total freedom, but he knows what he’s capable of and also he knows how things work. He hasn’t always had it easy in the past and he’ll have to work hard now, too. He needs time, but his talent is unique.”
When the results were coming for the Reds despite some issues with their overall play, it was easy for the fans and club-focused media to overlook Wirtz’ lack of return—and, as Nagelsmann points out, he has created more than anyone else in the Premier League with 21 chances created for teammates according to Opta.
It’s also clear his talent is unique. That’s why Liverpool were willing to pay as much as they did for him, and it’s why signing him ahead of Bayern Munich was considered something of a coup. After those three losses back-to-back-to-back, though, a few goal involvements vs. Manchester United on Sunday wouldn’t go amiss.