Liverpool FC News: What Florian Wirtz REALLY thinks after £116m move | OneFootball

Over the last few years, there has been an influx of signings from the Bundesliga to the Premier League and each players' transition from one domestic league to the other has been unique.

Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch were Liverpool's most recent recruits from Germany prior to the arrival of Florian Wirtz and both delivered impressive maiden seasons, showing their potential.

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However, there was a noticeable change in performance level in their second years at the club, helping Arne Slot to win the Premier League, despite the change in tactics. Physically, the pair of the them had developed and the expectations on them had increased; they then had to deliver for us.

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With regard to Wirtz, however, his £100m price tag precedes him and the allowances that were afforded to the afore mentioned players above aren't there. Fans are willing to give him time and the displays he's put out so far have been incredibly positive, but the lack of goal contributions will remain a talking point until he ends his drought, but how must he feel about all the outside noise?

Wirtz is slowly coming into his own

The Reds' new No. 10 has been given the reigns to start all five of Liverpool's competitive fixtures so far this season and it's safe to say that the stats haven't quite done his performances justice yet.

Rival fans have used the 0-0-7 framework to mock him because he's yet to deliver a goal or an assist, a method that many have defended because of his price tag, recalling the intense scrutiny that Moises Caicedo and other high-value transfers have received over the past few years.

However, that specific metric for measuring success gives no recognition to his impact on the team and gradually you can recognise that he's felt more and more comfortable with each passing game.

So far he's created 13 chances, so his lack of a tangible contribution isn't through a lack of trying.

Furthermore, he did score a free kick while on international duty with Germany during the break in September, and so his talent is there for all to see, we're just waiting for things to click at Liverpool.

In a press conference following the 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid on Wednesday evening, Slot praised the midfielder and gave us an insight into how the last few weeks might have unfolded for him.

In quotes via The Athletic, he said: "Florian was indeed a few times closer to scoring a goal and he was also a few times closer to assisting a goal. I can see with him also that he is getting fitter and fitter and adjusting more and more to us, which is normal. You need a bit of time to adjust.

"We all know how much quality he has but sometimes people forget that he is a 22-year-old that goes for the first time abroad... In the first two or three months, your whole life is changing. All the things that are normal to you are not normal anymore. Everything is different and that sometimes costs energy as well.

"Combine that with going to a new club, a new playing style - because Leverkusen played 3-4-3 and we play 4-3-3 - so we ask a bit more from him off the ball and defensively as well. But I can see him growing more and more. He and the team will get better and better, but I liked his performance a lot."

Five of the chances he has created so far came in that fixture in the Champions League and he was no doubt buoyed by the addition of Alexander Isak - who is a more direct striker than Hugo Ekitike.

Building a rapport with your teammates and the centre-forward playing ahead of him is integral to his success as an attacking midfielder and the physicality of the matches he's playing will have changed.

Had it have been right that Wirtz was struggling to show any glimpses of his potential whatsoever, then the rival fans might well have had a point in criticising him. But he's doing more than enough to help the team to win games of football with his link-up play and we still haven't dropped points yet.

To be in the situation the club is in, knowing that the best of Wirtz is still to come is an enviable position that very few clubs are in. Life is only going to get harder for Liverpool's opponents.