Three losses in a row have piled pressure on manager Arne Slot and the record signing
Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has backed Florian Wirtz to become a success at the club despite a difficult start to life in England.
Wirtz joined Liverpool last summer from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of around £116m that broke the Premier League record at the time.
The 22-year-old had been outstanding for Leverkusen and was the key player when Xabi Alonso’s side became the first Bundesliga team to win the title unbeaten in 2023-24.
But the transition to the Premier League has been far from smooth, with Wirtz yet to show the same kind of creative influence that made him the finest player in Germany.
He was ultimately left out of the starting XI by Arne Slot in Liverpool’s high-profile clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, which the Reds lost 2-1.
The loss was Liverpool’s third in a row, following earlier defeats to Crystal Palace and Galatasaray, and has piled pressure on Slot and Wirtz. Klopp said the criticism was overblown.
“[Wirtz’s] quality is outstanding,” said Klopp. “The discussions are a bit exaggerated.
“Liverpool just lost three games in a row, which is unusual, but that’s also normal in life and that’s why such things are discussed there.
“Wirtz is a once-in-a-century talent, and at some point he’ll show that in every game again, just as he did at Leverkusen.”
