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If former Liverpool players Jamie Carragher and Dietmar Hamann have their way, Liverpool and Florian Wirtz will go their separate ways again soon.
"I know how talented he is and what he is capable of, but I think he has lost all confidence and all belief in his abilities. I don't think he believes he can succeed in the Premier League. I don't see a future for Wirtz at Liverpool," Hamann said in an interview with Givemesport.
Hamann believes the change of manager from Arne Slot to Andoni Iraola has done nothing to improve Wirtz's situation at Anfield. "His performances are no better than last season," the former Germany international said.
After the 3-0 drubbing against Manchester City, Wirtz faced renewed criticism. His goal involvements have fallen sharply since his €125 million move from Bayer Leverkusen to the Reds. Former players and TV pundits had already attacked him harshly at times during his debut season.
Jamie Carragher is among those critics, having urged the exceptional German player to leave on several occasions. He has done so again. "Liverpool will have to make a decision, perhaps not necessarily in the winter, but at the end of the season, when there is no major tournament and a free summer lies ahead. I think transfers can be completed much faster and more easily then," Carragher speculated on the Hamann & Stankovic vodcast.
The former Reds defender said he had seen "a lot of goodwill" towards Wirtz in Liverpool. "People really wanted him to succeed," Carragher stressed, adding that he had heard the Germany international is "a great guy". But Wirtz simply does not "score goals", a fundamental requirement in Iraola's system, where wide wingers get into scoring positions less often. "He never looks like he could score a goal in a match."
Wirtz has scored just seven goals in 58 competitive appearances, a highly worrying return by his standards. At Bayer Leverkusen, he scored 57 in 197 matches and provided 65 assists. At least in that respect, the 23-year-old fared much better in the two matches after the Manchester City debacle.
Last weekend, Wirtz shone as the playmaker in the 2-1 win over Brentford. He set up Victor Munoz's temporary equaliser at 1-1 and created nine chances for Liverpool in total. According to Opta, no player has reached that figure in the Premier League for five years. He had already looked better in the Champions League 6-3 win over LASK, assisting Bradley Barcola's goal to make it 3-0.
Continuing criticism of Wirtz has fuelled transfer rumours. Some have linked him with a move to Chelsea and his mentor Xabi Alonso, others with a return to the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich. The German record champions were desperate to sign Wirtz in the summer of 2025. They even thought they had reached an agreement in negotiations with his father and adviser Hans.
But Wirtz chose Liverpool and the Premier League instead. When honorary president Uli Hoeneß and supervisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge heard the news, they "nearly fell off their stools in shock", according to Süddeutsche Zeitung.
In November last year, Hoeneß expressed sympathy for Wirtz as the German struggled to get going in England. "Poor Flo Wirtz," he said, before taking aim at the Reds' extraordinary transfer spending. Liverpool had spent a total of almost €500 million on new players that summer. As well as Wirtz, Alexander Isak (€145 million) and Hugo Ekitike (€95 million) also arrived. Results on the pitch remained modest.
Hoeneß mocked the squad's abundance of stars. "I've said it before: they'll soon need five balls to play because all the stars want one for themselves," he said. "Poor Florian Wirtz, he simply doesn't get the ball because Salah and Szoboszlai and all the others only want to play for themselves."
President Herbert Hainer also recently expressed sympathy for the German star amid fierce criticism in recent weeks. "First of all, I think Florian Wirtz is an outstanding player, there's no question about that," said Hainer, "and I almost feel a little sorry for him that he hasn't yet shown in England the form he had at Leverkusen, because we also need him for the Germany national team."
During the international break, Wirtz produced a superb performance for Germany against Serbia to regain a little confidence, though he still does not seem fully settled at Liverpool.
Liverpool now face Villarreal in the Champions League, a match they should be expected to win. Another big match follows at the weekend when Fabian Hürzeler brings his surprise Brighton side to Anfield. Brighton have won five of their first seven league matches and are currently the closest challengers to the leading duo of Manchester City and Arsenal.
Club
Appearances
Goals
Assists
Liverpool
58
7
13
Bayer Leverkusen
197
57
65
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