He failed: Trusted club insider calls out £116m Florian Wirtz

Last summer Liverpool briefly made Florian Wirtz the most expensive player in British football history.

The Premier League champions agreed to pay what could end up being a £116m fee for the 22-year-old.

Wirtz came in from Bayer Leverkusen with a reputation as the best playmaker in the Bundesliga - leading his side to an unbeaten German league and cup double in 2023/24 under Xabi Alonso.

The Germany international knocked back interest from Manchester City and Real Madrid in order to move to Anfield - convinced by Arne Slot’s tactical blueprint.

But right now Wirtz is one year into a five-year contract and has yet to truly make an impression.

Wirtz barely lays a glove on PSG

The plan to field Wirtz as a No10 has backfired - and he has been spending more time on the flanks of late. The standout talent has got four goals and four assists to his name in his debut Premier League campaign - a long way short of what was expected.

His last two outings in European football meanwhile have seen the attacker flatter to deceive. Wirtz barely laid a glove on Paris Saint-Germain as Liverpool crashed out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage by an aggregate score of 4-0.

Fans have been on the fence about criticising the £100m man - but trusted club insider James Pearce has now taken aim at Wirtz.

Wirtz failed to step up says James Pearce

Writing in the Athletic Pearce states that the playmaker “failed” in both PSG games - adding he hasn’t come close to meeting his own valuation.

“Florian Wirtz failed to step up in either of the legs against PSG. It’s not his fault that he cost a fee rising to £116million but with that kind of price tag comes big expectations that he’s not even close to meeting,” he writes.

Pearce has got intimate working knowledge of Liverpool Football Club - and if he’s saying it then there’s reason to believe that the same view is felt inside the corridors of power.

Arne Slot - widely now expected to stay beyond the end of the season - has got plenty of work ahead of him in rebuilding this Liverpool side. His first task will be unlocking the talent Richard Hughes thought he bought last summer.

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