Liverpool transfer bombshell: No space for Wirtz warns World Cup winner

Liverpool paid a British record fee to attract Florian Wirtz to the club last summer.

The 22-year-old Germany international signed for the Reds on a deal that could reach £116m. Having helped Leverkusen to the Bundesliga and German cup double back in 2024, the creative attacker was convinced to take the next step in his career at Anfield.

Supposedly emboldened by Arne Slot’s tactical blueprint, Wirtz came on board and signed a five-year deal on Merseyside. It’s fair to say that it’s not been a perfect start for Wirtz.

He has yet to provide a goal or an assist for Liverpool - racking up 10 appearances for the club thus far. Even Slot has taken to playing Wirtz from the bench - as evidenced by recent Premier League games against Chelsea and Manchester United.

Liverpool fall to Man Utd

Slot tried to change the game by bringing Wirtz on at Anfield after around an hour of play. He fared quite well - giving the ball to Federico Chiesa who slipped in Cody Gakpo for an equaliser.

But Liverpool - and Wirtz - couldn’t get a winner and were eventually undone by a late Harry Maguire goal for Man Utd.

It was very hard for Wirtz to find space in which he could weave his magic on Sunday - with Slot fielding multiple attacking players at the same time by the game’s end.

We saw the likes of Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong also brought off the bench - while Gakpo, Alexander Isak and Mo Salah started the game up top.

Mustafi: No room for Wirtz

It led to a situation where Liverpool struggled to create anything substantial - pushing Wirtz to the margins of the game as he sought a foothold.

That was a point picked up by 2014 World Cup hero Shkodran Mustafi in his role as analyst for German TV as reported by Sport 1.

"Wirtz repeatedly moved out wide because it was impossible to be played in the space between the players,” he said on Sky Sports Germany.

“A: Because there was simply no room. And B: Because three strikers were running deep and two were coming towards them.

“There was simply far too little space to get everyone into the game.”

Liverpool and Arne Slot are going to have to create an attack that gets the best out of Wirtz and they need to find that solution shortly. He is playing well but right now the attack overall is struggling for end product.

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