Rodri has opened the door for Florian Wirtz to silence Liverpool doubters

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·24 September 2026

Rodri has opened the door for Florian Wirtz to silence Liverpool doubters

Liverpool should give serious consideration to the idea of potentially selling Florian Wirtz in an upcoming window.

At least, that seems to be the thrust of recent discourse around the German’s future (or potential lack thereof) at Anfield.

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The case for Liverpool selling Florian Wirtz

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The former Bayer Leverkusen sensation has been accused of nearly every footballing sin under the sun since his then record-breaking switch to Merseyside in 2025.

So let’s roll through a few of them, shall we?

Jamie Carragher (via CBS Sports last term after PSG defeat): “I said before the game, and I include Wirtz and Isak in this, to be a top player for Liverpool as an attacking player, you need to be arrogant on the ball but humble off the ball. They’re not humble off the ball. They don’t do enough off the ball, and that’s why it’s easy to play against Liverpool right now.”
Didi Hamann (via Goal): “When you’re bought for that much money, naturally, they want you to make the difference in the final third of the game. He’s doing that far too rarely.”
Gary Neville (via the Gary Neville Podcast): “I don’t see the tenacity in Wirtz in particular. I just see a nice player moving around the pitch, not really ever looking like he’s busting a gut to do anything. Now that can happen. Sometimes players have that flow about them, but I want to put a rocket up him. I want to put a rocket up him because there’s ability there, there’s talent there, the understanding of his position.”

Look, to be clear, criticism of Wirtz isn’t unfounded; we can appreciate why commentators have gone after the Germany international this season. We can appreciate why expectations remain high after a £116m package deal was agreed with Leverkusen in the 2025 summer transfer window.

Perhaps there is an argument that cutting our losses would be beneficial, allowing Andoni Iraola to build more of a “workman’s midfield” that helps facilitate the frontline. Of course, there are arguments that this would go against what the Basque head coach is looking to do at Liverpool: using Wirtz as the closest man to Alexander Isak (or whoever is the central striker on the pitch) as part of an evolved 4-4-2 shape. For that, having a world-class number ten in our No.7 technically offers its advantages, assuming we can get the footballer back to the standard he demonstrated in the Bundesliga.

Is this Wirtz’s first “true” season at Liverpool?

We’ve spoken about mitigating factors last season and it feels pertinent to once again raise it here in this context.

We’ve seen the likes of Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk all speak eloquently about the emotional damage of Diogo Jota’s passing and the resulting impact on Liverpool’s 2025/26 season.

Yes, we can talk about fitness issues and Arne Slot’s decision-making, but when you’ve got a team of footballers who ultimately aren’t interested in football (to paraphrase our recently departed left-back), it’s not an ideal environment for new signings to bed into.

Which raises questions around how to what degree we can treat 2025/26 as a meaningful season when it comes to analysing Florian Wirtz’s worth in England. It’s not an argument that will slide, one supsects, as far as Carragher and Co. are concerned, but 2026/27 does feel like a more fair starting point for the German.

The Wirtz crusade inspires memories of the anti-Rodri sentiment

(Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images)

The English press and media couldn’t possibly have history for repeatedly haranguing a football club for signing a footballer from a foreign league who dared to not settle in England quickly enough?

Oh boy.

Enter Manchester City and Rodri, with the Sky Blues having acquired the Spanish international from La Liga in the summer of 2019.

And let’s be clear here: the holding midfielder was not given an easy ride in England, as he struggled to adapt to the frenzied reality of Premier League football. And to be fair to the footballer, he was having to adapt to life in Manchester while the club was dealing with an injury crisis in the backline and the departure of key servant Vincent Kompany.

By his own admission, Rodri’s first season in the Premier League was a “disaster”. Yet, given time, the footballing world has since come to appreciate the now-Barcelona player as one of the most talented holding midfielders in history – certainly, the leading holding midfielder of his generation (alongside Fabinho’s peak Liverpool years).

While there’s no guarantee that Wirtz will follow a similar trajectory at L4, there’s at least prior evidence to suggest a pathway forward for the playmaker at Liverpool.

Time, as ever, will tell.