When Liverpool recruited Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen last summer, it seemed that the rest of the Premier League were worried.
One of the most promising young talents in the world has joined the team that just won the 2024-2025 season championship. The fee of 100 million pounds (possibly increasing to 116 million pounds) is a huge number, but besides rival fans and those who rarely follow football outside the Premier League, not many people think it is an unreasonable investment.
Everything is happening slower than expected, but recent performances show that Wirtz is gradually shouldering the right role of the "core" that Liverpool can build around in the coming years.
The excitement for Wirtz is very great. The German midfielder also made his mark from the fourth minute of his official debut, when he pocketed an assist. Wirtz delivered a delicate pass for newcomer Hugo Ekitike to score against Crystal Palace in the English Super Cup match at Wembley.
However, although Liverpool started their campaign to defend the throne with 5 consecutive victories, their performance was not really convincing, and so was Wirtz. He still had soft touches, moments that showed class, but at the same time also revealed problems. Sometimes Wirtz seemed weak in terms of fitness, making unoptimized choices and not connecting with new teammates like when he was at Leverkusen.
Wirtz once reached the double-digit mark in both goals and assists in his last two seasons in the Bundesliga. However, after assists in the Super Cup, he has not had any more goals or assists at Liverpool for a long time. Worse, Liverpool's form has also declined at the same time. Slot's team has gone through a 12-match streak in all competitions with 9 defeats (3 wins).
Wirtz still managed to leave his mark in the Champions League with two assists against Eintracht Frankfurt, along with a commendable performance against Real Madrid. But his brilliance against a Bundesliga representative inadvertently reinforced the argument that the Premier League is much harsher.
Reputation and transfer price further made Wirtz the focus of scrutiny by experts. Slot admitted early that Wirtz needed time, especially physically. When Wirtz left the field in the 1-0 victory over Arsenal in August last year due to cramps, Slot said bluntly: "It's not a injury, it's just a welcome to the Premier League".
Wirtz seemed to have scored his first goal for Liverpool in the 1-1 draw with Sunderland at Anfield in December, when the shot hit Nordi Mukiele and changed direction into the net. But the video showed that the initial shot did not hit the target, so the goal was considered an own goal.
However, positive signs began to appear in the match against Brighton 10 days later. In the 2-0 victory, Wirtz recovered the ball 9 times - at least 3 times more than any teammate, and also the highest stats of himself in a match this season.
Before the away match to Tottenham Hotspur, Wirtz created 25 chances in the Premier League - at least 7 more chances than any other player who has not yet had an assist in the 2025-2026 season. In other words, he is not lacking in creativity, just lacking in luck.
A typical example is the 1-2 defeat to Chelsea. Entering the second half, Wirtz almost immediately made a delicate pass from the inside of his left foot to Mohamed Salah who rushed down in an open position, but the Egyptian striker shot wide of the goal. If the ball goes into the net, it could be one of the best assists of the season.
Then the most anticipated moment finally came against Spurs. Liverpool regained the ball and counter-attacked, Wirtz launched an accurate pass for Isak to finish powerfully and open the score.
Unfortunately for Isak, a collision with Micky van de Ven when trying to block the shot caused him to break his leg, and the progress was stopped. But with Wirtz, his form curve began to clearly increase.
Not only contributing his first Premier League goal in the match against Spurs, Wirtz also for the first time reached the milestone of more than 100 touches in a match for Liverpool (105). He repeated that in the next match against Wolves (106) and more importantly scored his first Premier League goal.
Just minutes after Ryan Gravenberch opened the score, Liverpool continued to put pressure. Ekitike passed into the center for Wirtz, and this time he did not miss when finishing to defeat goalkeeper Jose Sa. Wirtz's relieved expression in the celebration said it all.
The understanding between Wirtz and Ekitike is also gradually forming. The assist against Wolves is the second of a total of six goals that this duo has combined in all competitions this season. They are even recognized as the best scoring combination pair in the Premier League 2025-2026, with each person having three assists for the other.
After the first goal, Wirtz seemed to unlock his scoring instinct. He continued to score in draws with Fulham (2-2) and Burnley (1-1) in early January. But it was his excellent performance in the 4-1 victory over Newcastle last weekend that really changed the view of him. Experts and fans began to admit that Wirtz is approaching his peak form like in the Bundesliga.
After only having 3 assists and not scoring in the first 21 matches for Liverpool, Wirtz has participated in 9 goals (6 goals, 3 assists) in the last 11 matches. This is a sign that the hundred-million pound blockbuster is finally in gear.
