Liverpool’s £116M superstar was “mauled” by Manchester City, admits Gary Neville | OneFootball

Manchester United legend and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville says Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz was “mauled” by Matheus Nunes during the club’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City.

Wirtz lined up alongside Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister in midfield for Arne Slot’s men on Sunday as goals from Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku sealed an emphatic triumph for Manchester City against the reigning Premier League champions.

City are undergoing a period of transition in the backdrop of a busy transfer window wherein the club’s newly-appointed director of football Hugo Viana was tasked with mitigating the notable loss of Kevin De Bruyne, who was let go by the club’s hierarchy at the end of his contract.

The Blues were strongly interest in Wirtz – who was attracting strong interest from a host of clubs across Europe in the summer – as it became inevitable that he would be leaving Bayer Leverkusen after a stellar campaign under Xabi Alonso in Germany.

Manchester City identified the 22-year-old as their preferred replacement for De Bruyne but Wirtz decided to join Liverpool’s title-winning team as the Reds won the race for the talented Germany international for a sensational £116 million transfer fee.

However, Liverpool have made an indifferent start to their title defence after conducting a major reshuffle of their own dressing room in the summer and Wirtz – like many of the club’s recent acquisitions – is yet to get off the mark in a Reds jersey.

The former Bayer Leverkusen star was manhandled by a resolute Manchester City backline on Sunday as Arne Slot and co were put to the sword by Guardiola’s resurgent Blues, who are four points clear of the title holders after 11 games played.

Speaking in the latest episode of the Gary Neville Podcast, the former England international offered a concerning analysis of Florian Wirtz’s performance for Liverpool against Manchester City and the ‘mauling’ from one of Pep Guardiola’s stars.

“Wirtz is a problem. Let’s just call it as it is. It’s an issue,” Neville said. “He’s £100 million plus, and to be fair, I said a few weeks ago (Milos) Kerkez looked like a little boy out there. Today I thought Wirtz looked like a little boy. That can’t be the case.

“We’ve been tiptoeing around him for a few months, around the fact that he’s young, he’s coming to a new country, but he’s £100 million plus – you’re going to have to stand up soon.

“He’s obviously got something, a really good player, he’s technically fantastic, but he’s been mauled out there today by Matheus Nunes and by others. He’s been chucked around the pitch, and didn’t deliver on the quality side of things as well, so his performance was a real worry.”

There is always an adaptation period for an import into the Premier League and it should be noted that Wirtz is still at a fairly early stage of his career, with little doubt in the wider football community that the Liverpool star has all the ingredients to thrive at Anfield as he settles into life in England and adapts to the demands of the Premier League.