Florian Wirtz backed to come good for Liverpool after bulking up in gym | OneFootball

Arne Slot has told Florian Wirtz to take heart from the Premier League greats who made a slow start to life in England.

The Liverpool head coach admitted his £100m buy would rather have begun with a flurry of goals and assists, whereas, after 21 games, Wirtz is still yet to open his account for his new club.

But a host of imports have taken time to adjust to the division, with players such as Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Eden Hazard, David Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo all displaying their finest form after getting used to the demands of English football.

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Wirtz has yet to score for Liverpool (Liverpool FC/Getty)

And Slot said: “Of course, every player would prefer to have a flying start with goals and assists and everything but it does not always work like this. He is not the first one and is not the last one to have to adjust to the Premier League. So many of the best players to ever play here took a while, maybe even longer, to become the star they are now.”

Slot believes Wirtz is improving and feels he is better equipped to deal with the physicality of the Premier League now.

He added: “Florian has improved a lot. I am not talking about his ability on the ball because we could see from the start that that was top.

“But I saw in one moment against Brighton where he took the ball off Dom [Dominik Szoboszlai], he dribbled and a player came to him and he pushed him away and kept on dribbling. Then he provided a cut back cross for Hugo [Ekitike] who shot over the bar.

“Later he won the duel with [Jan Paul] Van Hecke that led to the counterattack with the shot from Mo [Salah]. In those moments you see it gets easier for him. It takes a lot of effort for him to play in this intensity, but he is getting used to it. That is my take.”

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Slot on Wirtz: ‘It takes a lot of effort for him to play in this intensity, but he is getting used to it’ (Reuters)

Four of Wirtz’s Premier League appearances have come as a substitute, with Slot leaving him out for matches against Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United and Aston Villa.

But the Dutchman said the playmaker has done work in the gym to make him stronger and to give him more muscle.

Slot said: “He understood completely the two or three games he was on the bench. These players understand better than the outside world that once in a while they cannot start.

“Mo is a player who is completely ready to play every three days, Virgil as well, these guys know what they have to do and their body is used to it. They can play every three days at the highest level.”