Florian Wirtz scored the winning goal for Liverpool in their 2-1 win over Wolves in the Premier League, and Wayne Rooney has long expected the expensive summer signing to come good at Anfield
Florian Wirtz may have proven Wayne Rooney right with his latest performance for Liverpool. The Germany international starred for the Reds in their 2-1 win over Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday.
Wirtz scored his first goal for Liverpool after latching onto a pass from Hugo Ekitike at Anfield.
Liverpool signed Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer transfer window in a deal worth up to £116million with add-ons, which includes an initial £100million fee. Before the victory over Wolves on Saturday, Wirtz had yet to score his first goal for Liverpool and had been the subject of criticism for his performances across the first half of his first season on Merseyside.
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Rooney gave his verdict on Wirtz’s performance against Wolves, highlighting why the 22-year-old is already showing why Liverpool agreed a large transfer fee to bring him to Anfield.
“He’s had some really good performances this season, he just hasn’t got the goals to go with them,” Rooney said on BBC’s Match of the Day.
“He was really impressive today (vs Wolves), he took up some great positions. He’s starting to get a really good understanding with (Milos) Kerkez.”
Rooney added: “He’s showing glimpses of being a top, top player, which I think he can be for Liverpool.
“I remember Bastian Schweinsteiger when he first joined Manchester United, he was surprised at the pace of the Premier League. He liked to get his foot on the ball and slow the game down.
“Sometimes, you need time to adapt to it.”
The comments from Rooney come after the former Manchester United and Everton striker defended Wirtz for his performances earlier in the season.
Rooney appeared on The Overlap Fan Debate in November alongside Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, where he explained why he thinks Wirtz will go on to flourish at Anfield.
“I like Wirtz coming off the left, how he’s done the last couple of games,” Rooney said.
“I know he hasn’t scored, but he has created a good number of chances which his teammates haven’t taken. I think he’ll be fine – players just take time to settle in.
“To go from Leverkusen to Liverpool, it’s a big jump. Liverpool is a massive club, and it’s not going well for the whole group at Liverpool at the minute.
“When that happens and you’re a new player and the money they’ve spent on him, and similar with Alexander Isak as well, there will be questions, but I think they’ll be fine.”
Carragher, however, had a different view from Rooney at the time. The former Reds centre-back disagreed and explained why he had concerns about Wirtz being a success at Liverpool.
“I was worried about Florian Wirtz early on – not because he wasn’t amazing,” Carragher said. “When you pay that much money for someone, I just want to see a few glimpses of something to make me think, ‘I know he’s not the Bayer Leverkusen version yet, but I can see little things’.
“That was early on, and I’ve seen a few things – the backheel at Chelsea, he played well against Real Madrid.
“My worry about Wirtz is when people say things like he has to get used to his teammates, he’s played well in Europe, but it’s a different game to the Premier League.
“He played well at Frankfurt and against Real Madrid at home, but he’s found it really tough in the Premier League. I worry about him going forward – I get it’s early days, but I need to see something to keep me thinking that this will work.”
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