"He will assert himself" – Rudi Völler analyses Wirtz's stumbling start at Liverpool

Expectations were huge when Florian Wirtz completed a record-breaking move to Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen over the summer, but the German international has had a stumbling start in England.

Speaking on the football talk show Sky90, German Football Association sporting director Rudi Völler analysed the 22-year-old’s difficulties.

“The big difference is: at Bayer Leverkusen, despite the individual quality of the other players, he was always looked for,” Völler said.

“Players like Granit Xhaka, Alejandro Grimaldo or Robert Andrich certainly ran the game. But the moment Florian made himself available, he always got the ball. Even as a young guy, he was already the chief.

“I deliberately watched some Liverpool games with him: he does an incredible amount of work, runs a lot, makes many sprints, and also goes deep. But he isn’t played to in the way he was used to at Leverkusen or with the national team. That’s something that has to be developed over weeks and months,” Völler added.

The former Leverkusen boss also stressed that he has “absolutely no doubts” about Wirtz, pointing out that he has the character to bounce back.

“I know that he’s not one of those divas in his position who stand around with their heads down if they’re not passed to three times. Florian isn’t like that. He’s not only an extraordinary footballer, he also has a great character. He will give everything from the first to the last minute, always push forward. He also has incredible running stats. He will assert himself.”