Liverpool beat off competition from Bayern Munich and Manchester City to secure the services of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen during the summer transfer window
Rudi Voller has claimed Florian Wirtz thought it would be easier to secure a place in Liverpool’s starting line-up. The Reds started their summer business with a statement of intent by securing the services of the sought-after German from Bayer Leverkusen in a package worth a then-British record £116m.
Liverpool saw off competition from Manchester City and Bayern Munich for his signature. However, Wirtz only showed brief glimpses of his talent in the opening weeks of the season.
And although he is yet to officially open his account in the Premier League, he has impressed in recent weeks as his side returned to winning ways.
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And German legend Voller, the current DFB sporting director, has revealed what Wirtz has thought about his time at Liverpool so far.
“Florian is essentially playing in Liverpool with the same self-confidence he displayed on the pitch in Leverkusen,” he told German newspaper Sport 1.
“However, he’s not being sought out as often on the field as he was when he wore the Bayer Leverkusen jersey. But he has to earn that.
“(The fee is) not the problem. That doesn’t bother Florian. He certainly thought it would be a little easier to find his place in the team.
“The team functioned perfectly last season, then it underwent some changes. It takes time for everything to fall into place. Florian has to persevere through this.
“I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until he’s truly settled in there and gives Liverpool what he wants to give and, above all, what he’s capable of giving.”
Speaking earlier this month, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot revealed that Wirtz has undertaken a weight-gain programme in an effort to adapt to the Premier League’s physicality.
“To come back to your question, I hope I made it clear that I am talking not just about the new players (who have needed to adapt) but players in general, Florian has improved a lot,” Slot said.
“I am not talking about his ability on the ball because we could see from the start that that was top.
“But I saw in one moment against Brighton where he took the ball off Dom (Szoboszlai), he dribbled and a player came to him and he pushed him away and kept on dribbling. Then he provided a cut back cross for Hugo (Ekitike) who shot over the bar.
“Later he won the duel with (Brighton’s) Jan Paul van Hecke that led to the counter attack with the shot from Mo (Salah). In those moments you see it gets easier for him.
“It takes a lot, a lot, a lot of effort for him to play in this intensity but he is getting used to it. That is my take. Both (fitness and weight work). A lot of them have grown in kilograms, in muscle. That’s one thing.
“And secondly, if you are only in the gym you cannot be prepared for 90 minutes of Premier League football. It is about playing those games, I would say training but we hardly ever do that, so it’s playing, playing, playing.
“The only way to make these players better is by playing them. I have played players during the season when you would usually take pre-season for that.
“The only way to get Florian stronger, Macca (Alexis Mac Allister), Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez, is to play games. So yeah, it’s a combination of things but definitely also about the gym work where they all get stronger.”
