Jamie Carragher Questions Florian Wirtz's Premier League Future
Jamie Carragher believes Florian Wirtz is heading into a “make-or-break season” at Liverpool and has questioned whether the £115m midfielder has what it takes to truly live in the Premier League’s heavyweight division.
Wirtz arrived from Bayer Leverkusen last summer as the jewel of an ambitious rebuild, but Liverpool’s title defence collapsed, Arne Slot walked away at the end of the season, and the German never came close to justifying his fee. There were flashes. Nothing more.
Carragher, writing in his Telegraph column, did not hide his concern.
“The jury is out on whether he possesses the tools to overcome the physical challenge. I must admit, I have my doubts,” he said, cutting to the heart of the issue that has followed Wirtz since he landed at Anfield.
When Liverpool signed him, the expectation was clear: this was supposed to be their Kevin De Bruyne moment. A creative fulcrum who would bend games to his will, dominate midfields, and decide title races. That comparison, Carragher argues, has quickly looked fanciful.
“When he joined Liverpool, the hope at Anfield was that Wirtz would dominate in the same manner as Kevin De Bruyne did. But the German does not have the athleticism or running and shooting power of De Bruyne.”
That gap in physical profile and explosiveness has shaped how Wirtz looks on the pitch. Neat. Tidy. Technically clean. But not devastating.
“Even at his best, Wirtz has looked ‘neat and tidy’ rather than the killer in and around the penalty box one would have expected given his fee and reputation. He has resembled a useful squad addition for about £40m rather than a game-changer who cost £115m,” Carragher added.
For a club that finished fifth and 25 points behind champions Arsenal, that is a brutal assessment of a marquee signing.
Wirtz’s supporters inside the club and in the stands cling to a familiar argument: foreign players often need a year to adapt to the speed, intensity and sheer physicality of English football. Carragher acknowledges that line of defence, but he also warns that circumstances could again conspire against the 21-year-old.
Last season, as Liverpool’s defensive structure crumbled, Slot was forced to compromise. Wirtz, signed as an attacking midfielder, was shunted out to the left wing to plug gaps and balance the side. His influence faded with every game spent away from his natural role.
Carragher fears a repeat under Andoni Iraola if Liverpool’s back line does not stabilise quickly.
“If Wirtz does not have the desired impact in the early games this season, it is not difficult to foresee history repeating itself and Iraola realising he must compromise attacking romanticism for pragmatism,” he wrote, suggesting that system tweaks could once again push Wirtz out of position – or out of the XI altogether.
And that is where the doubts sharpen.
“Given [Andoni] Iraola sets up his side with out-and-out wingers, such circumstances would raise serious doubts about Wirtz’s future,” Carragher warned.
Iraola’s philosophy leans heavily on width, direct running and high tempo from his wide players. If Wirtz cannot impose himself centrally early on, he may find there is no natural home for him in a side built on specialist wingers rather than drifting playmakers.
The German was part of what looked, on paper, like an outstanding 2025 summer window. Liverpool also brought in Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong. Only Ekitike truly made a mark as the season unravelled. The rest, Wirtz included, became symbols of a project that stalled badly.
Now the reset begins again.
Liverpool open their 2026/27 Premier League campaign away to Newcastle at St James’ Park on Sunday, 23 August, at 4.30pm. Under a new manager, in a hostile stadium, against a side that relish physical duels and high-intensity football, Wirtz will have few better stages to answer the question Carragher has thrown his way.
Does he have the tools to survive this league – or was £115m the wrong bet on the wrong profile at the wrong time?
