‘Can 100 Per Cent’ – Ex-Liverpool Man Believes Florian Wirtz Can Hit Philippe Coutinho Heights | OneFootball

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Former Liverpool midfielder Don Hutchison believes Florian Wirtz has the ability to produce the kind of performances Philippe Coutinho once delivered, though he struggles to understand why the German has yet to do so.

The 23-year-old arrived at Anfield last summer as Liverpool’s record signing from Bayer Leverkusen at the time, carrying considerable expectations after his outstanding exploits in Germany.

Soon after his arrival, an experienced German technical director backed the midfielder to make a significant impact on Merseyside.

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Life at Anfield, however, has not unfolded quite as Wirtz would have dreamed, with the midfielder coming under increasing scrutiny amid a lack of goals and assists compared to the regular output he produced for Leverkusen.

Wirtz had to wait until December to open his Liverpool account, underlining his struggles.

Despite the hardships, the German finished his debut campaign on Merseyside with 16 goal involvements, although that represented a notable drop from the levels he had routinely produced during his time in Germany.

The pressure has followed him into the new campaign, with Wirtz managing just one assist across his six appearances so far.

Replying to a video showcasing Coutinho’s displays at Anfield, Hutchison suggested that Wirtz has all the qualities required to produce a similar level of influence for Liverpool.

The former Liverpool star nevertheless admitted that it has become increasingly difficult to understand why Wirtz has yet to translate those qualities onto the pitch, while rejecting confidence as the explanation and insisting that the talent itself is beyond question.

Hutchison wrote on X: “This is the weird part of it all.

“F Wirtz can 100 per cent do all this.

“We are all struggling to fathom out why he isn’t doing it. (I don’t believe it’s confidence).

“He has the talent but it’s becoming an absolute mystery as to why not.”

Earlier this year, Leeds United legend Nigel Martyn pointed to two Whites stars as examples of how quickly they adapted to the Premier League compared to Wirtz.

Wirtz will now turn his attention to international duty with Germany after being included in new boss Jurgen Klopp’s squad for the upcoming Nations League fixtures against Greece and Serbia.

Meanwhile, Liverpool climbed to sixth in the Premier League table following their victory over Bournemouth at the weekend.