Pundit says the German is “technically fantastic” but lacks physicality required at Premier League
Gary Neville says Florian Wirtz has to rise to Premier League standard as quickly as possible, describing the £116m signing as “a problem” for Arne Slot’s struggling champions.
The 22-year-old German has yet to score or assist in 11 league appearances since his summer move from Bayer Leverkusen, and had another anonymous appearance at the Etihad against Manchester City on Sunday.
Liverpool were comfortably second best as goals from Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku left them eighth in the table after 11 games, already eight points behind leaders Arsenal.
“Wirtz is a problem,” Neville said. “Let’s just call it as it is. It’s an issue. He’s £100m+, and to be fair, I said a few weeks ago Milos Kerkez looked like a little boy out there. Today I thought Wirtz looked like a little boy. That can’t be the case.”
Neville understands that it can be tough for a young player to adapt to a new league, but warned that the expectation around a signing of Wirtz’s profile and price means patience will wear thin if performances don’t improve soon.
“We’ve been tiptoeing around him for a few months, around the fact that he’s young and coming to a new country, but he’s £100m+. You’re going to have to stand up soon,” said Neville.
“He’s obviously got something. He’s technically fantastic, but he was mauled out there today by Matheus Nunes and others. He didn’t deliver on the quality side of things as well, so his performance was a real worry.
“He’s a Germany international of great standing, and he looks well short in respect of what you’d expect in a top physical Premier League match.
“They’ve got to get him up to speed. They’ve got to get that little bit of tenacity into him, and that little bit of something that means he’ll start to get into form, because what they have to do is stick with him and persist.”
