Eye-opening Bayern insight reveals why Florian Wirtz is flopping at Liverpool | OneFootball

A stunning piece of insight from Bayern Munich has shed light on why Liverpool aren’t getting the best out of Florian Wirtz, and may not do for quite some time.

Wirtz became Liverpool’s most expensive signing of all time when joining from Bayer Leverkusen for £116m (£100m plus £16m in add-ons. That record fell shortly after by way of Alexander Isak’s £125m switch from Newcastle.

Both players have started life at Anfield in sluggish fashion, but while there are no doubts Isak – who is already proven in England – will come good, the same cannot be said of Wirtz.

TEAMtalk’s writers ran the rule over whether Wirtz will ever be worth the money Liverpool paid last week. The verdict was mixed to say the least.

Now, an incredible piece of insight from X account, Bayern Space, has opened eyes to the vast gulf in quality between the Bundesliga and Premier League.

The account, which has been praised by respected reporters like The Daily Mail’s Merseyside correspondent, Lewis Steele, and offers a behind-closed-doors look at Bayern, revealed Luis Diaz is flabbergasted at just how weak the Bundesliga is.

That is obviously the league Liverpool bought Wirtz from and the claims made by Bayern Space are eye-opening to say the least.

They wrote on X: ‘Inside Bayern’s dressing room Luis Díaz has spoken with a clarity that caught even members of the staff off guard.

‘He has reportedly told teammates that the Bundesliga is nothing like what he fought through in the Premier League.

‘The intensity feels softer, the rhythm slower and the spaces wider than anything he ever experienced in England.

‘Díaz was stunned by how much freedom attackers are given here, how defenders retreat instead of confronting and how duels lack the violence and urgency he once met every single weekend.

‘Luis Díaz expected adaptation, he expected pressure, he expected the strain of a new league, yet instead he found room to breathe.

‘Teammates around him, especially those who once played in the Premier League, repeat his comparisons, that players in England survive by inches and seconds, while here entire pockets of space open around him and defenders move with a hesitation he never saw at Liverpool or anywhere else in the Premier League.

‘There were also conversations with Bayern’s physios where it was said that, for his body, this league may be a blessing in the later stages of his career, offering fewer collisions, fewer sprints and fewer battles that leave marks for days.

‘Even so, he finds himself taken aback by the drop in level, surprised by the gentleness of a league he assumed would test him far more deeply.

‘Inside Bayern this has not gone unnoticed, as another elite footballer arrives from England and within weeks reaches the same conclusion many internally have feared, that the Bundesliga no longer carries the intensity of Europe’s best, that its pace comes in waves rather than storms, and that its resistance bends far too easily.

‘It is a league that flatters attackers and exposes defenders, a league where world class players feel not challenged but unshackled. Luis Díaz expected a battle, instead he found space.’

Diaz, who scored just 41 goals in three-and-a-half years in England, has already scored 11 times for Bayern in just three months.

Will Wirtz be a success at Liverpool?

The post sums up the risks of spending heavily on big-name players from weaker leagues. It is a bug Manchester United have regularly been bitten by, with Antony (Eredivisie), Rasmus Hojlund, Joshua Zirkzee (Serie A) and Jadon Sancho (Bundesliga) all arriving for big money in recent years before flopping in England.

Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, most notably Hugo Ekitike from a Liverpool perspective.

From further afield, truly top tier talents like Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham became greats of the game when leaving German sides for Manchester City and Real Madrid respectively.

Does Wirtz also fall into that truly top tier category and are fears about his long-term impact in England misplaced? Only time will tell.

In other news, Liverpool are considered the only side who will bid to sign Marc Guehi in January amid what’s been described as a “sense of regret” they did not land in the summer  – but what are the chances of the England star completing his long-awaited switch in the winter window?