Could Liverpool Part Ways with £116m Florian Wirtz After Struggles in Premier League?
Florian Wirtz arrived at Liverpool in 2025 for a record £116 million ($157m), briefly becoming the most expensive player in British football. Despite high expectations, the 23-year-old German playmaker has struggled to make his mark in the Premier League. Former Reds midfielder and fellow German Dietmar Hamann shared insights with GOAL about when transfer rumors could start to emerge regarding Wirtz’s future at Anfield.
Wirtz’s Performance Stats
When Wirtz moved from Bayer Leverkusen, where he had already won a Bundesliga title, many saw him as a generational talent destined to shine in English football. Yet, the 2025-26 season started slowly for both him and Liverpool. The creative midfielder managed only seven goals and seven assists, falling short of what was expected.
When Could Liverpool Consider Offers?
Despite the hefty investment, Liverpool won’t wait indefinitely for Wirtz to find his form. As the 2026-27 season begins, he is still searching for a spark, and it seems two seasons might be the maximum time given for him to prove himself on Merseyside.
Hamann told GOAL, “He’s got to start playing well. He has to start influencing the game. I think he’s a player who floats. He’s probably not got that respect from the other players that sometimes maybe he can stop defending, because I think you’ve got to give him certain liberties and a certain freedom, that you’ve got players who win the ball back for him. And the players don’t mind doing it if when he does get the ball 10 times, six, seven, eight times, something’s going to happen. That’s just not the case.”
“Now he’s working very hard going backwards. I think sometimes he’s doing too much. He wants to help the team because he sees that he can influence the game going forward. So I think the balance in his game has been wrong, but he will only get the respect of the players when he starts influencing the game going forward. He’s not there to win balls, he’s there to set up goals and score goals.”
“There were maybe a handful of games where he did that last season. And it’s simply not enough. Obviously, everybody’s talking about the physical side of the Premier League. Yes, it’s more physical. Some of the best players took some time to adapt. I think [Juan Sebastian] Veron came lauded as the best midfield player. I think he lasted one season and went back to Italy. So some just can’t do it or don’t want to do it.”
“The longer it goes on now, because I said the first two or three months, give him time. I said he’s too good to fail. But once it went past Christmas, I said, I don’t think he’s going to crack it anymore because it’s too long now. Because expectations are not getting any less.”
“If he doesn’t start playing well, he came off again in the first game after 60 minutes. If he doesn’t start influencing games in the next three or four weeks, by the international break, which is longer this year, we’ll have a lot of paper talk, lots of discussions about whether the club should have bought him, which is obviously too late because he’s there. And maybe him thinking, ‘maybe this is not for me’. Something will happen because for a player of that magnitude, of that stature, the amount of money he costs, it’s simply not enough. You’ve got to find a solution somehow, maybe even in winter, if things don’t get better.”
Position Debate: No.10 or Wide Forward?
The question remains whether Wirtz fits best as a creative No.10 or as a left-sided forward drifting inside. Hamann, a former Champions League winner at Liverpool, weighed in:
“I know everybody said how well he does in training and all this. There comes a point, and I think the point was last year after Christmas, where somebody should have said, ‘listen lad, either you do it or in the summer, we see what’s happening in the World Cup, maybe we’ve got to find a solution.’ Because they can’t wait forever.”
“He was bought to be the main man. I wouldn’t blame it on the position he plays on the left. A year earlier, I said in the summer I see him as a number 10. But if you’ve got a number 10 who doesn’t create chances or score enough goals, then obviously somebody else has to play—especially with Bradley Barcola coming in. It’s a tricky situation for players in England.”
Current Season and Contract Details
Wirtz is contracted to Liverpool until 2030 but needs to improve quickly to justify those terms. Under new Spanish manager Andoni Iraola, Liverpool has taken just two points from their opening matches—a 2-2 draw against Newcastle followed by another 2-2 against Nottingham Forest. Their next match is against newly promoted Ipswich Town on Friday.
- Next Match: Ipswich Town vs Liverpool
- Date: 4 September 2026
- Time: 21:00
