Florian Wirtz is warming up, not washing out: Why Liverpool’s quiet creator Is close to exploding

Florian Wirtz is quietly yet steadily warming up to the challenge at Liverpool

If you only glance at Florian Wirtz’s Premier League numbers, it is easy to see why he has become a lightning rod for criticism this season. A nine-figure signing wearing the No.7 shirt, yet still without a goal or assist in the league. For a fan base raised on Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and peak Roberto Firmino, that headline return feels underwhelming at best.

Look a little deeper, though, and a very different picture begins to emerge. Wirtz isn’t a failed experiment; he’s a player in the middle of a complex adaptation, one whose underlying data and work behind the scenes suggest he is slowly, but surely, winding up for a serious breakthrough.

The numbers tell a more interesting story

Across all competitions this season, Wirtz has played 22 games for club and country, totalling 1,562 minutes. In that time, he has produced one goal and four assists. On the surface, that doesn’t sound like a player about to take the league by storm. But the way he is affecting games is more encouraging than the raw goal-involvement count suggests.

For Germany in World Cup qualifying, he has averaged 2.7 shots and 3.3 key passes per game, with a pass completion of 87.6%, elite output for a 22-year-old operating in a major national side. In the Champions League, he has looked far more inspired, with four key passes per game and two assists in just 342 minutes. That is exactly the version of Wirtz Liverpool thought they were signing, a player who is sharp between the lines, decisive in the final third, and technically brave under pressure.

Slow adaptation to the Premier League

The drop-off comes in the Premier League column. Over 693 league minutes, he is sitting on decent stats of 1.1 shots and 1.5 key passes per game, his pass completion dipping to around 80%. Those figures are not disastrous, but they do show a player still wrestling with the tempo and physical chaos of English football. He is trying the same things, progressive passes, riskier dribbles, threaded balls in crowded central zones, but he is having to perform them at a higher speed, under greater defensive intensity, against teams who press and foul more aggressively than most of what he faced in the Bundesliga.

That tension shows up elsewhere in the data. His dribbles per game fall from around two with Germany to 0.7 in the league, while his unsuccessful touches and times dispossessed rise. It is not the profile of a player hiding; it is the profile of a player pushing his limits in a new context and not quite nailing the execution yet.

Importantly, his creative base has not disappeared. Even in this “struggling” league spell, 1.5 key passes per match is a respectable output for a midfielder still learning his team’s patterns. His averages across all competitions, 2.5 key passes per game and over 83% pass accuracy, place him comfortably in the bracket of high-level chance creators. The quality that made him one of Europe’s most coveted young playmakers is still there; it just hasn’t consistently translated into goals and assists in the Premier League yet.

A physical rebuild in real time

What makes Wirtz’s situation particularly intriguing from a Liverpool perspective is what has been happening away from the cameras. Reliable reports in recent weeks have revealed that he has added around 2.5kg of lean muscle since joining the club. That is not the behaviour of a player overwhelmed by England and already thinking about his next move; it is the sign of someone who understands why he is struggling and is actively trying to close the gap.

You can already see subtle signs of that work. Earlier in the season, he was too easily nudged off the ball when receiving on the half-turn in tight pockets. Recently, he has begun to hold his ground better, ride contact and still release passes. His pressing has also improved; he is lasting longer in games at full intensity, no longer picking and choosing his moments as cautiously as he did in his early outings.

Physically, Wirtz is turning himself from a Bundesliga luxury into a Premier League weapon. That process doesn’t happen overnight, and there are always awkward in-between phases where the numbers don’t quite catch up to the effort. But when you combine his technical base with this new edge of power and durability, you can see why Liverpool’s staff remain calm about his trajectory.

Why Liverpool are right to stay patient

The easy narrative is to call a big-money signing a flop the moment the goals don’t arrive. But Liverpool, more than most clubs, should know how misleading that narrative can be. Fabinho looked off the pace for months. Andy Robertson couldn’t get into the team. Darwin Núñez spent an entire season as a chaos merchant before finding a more stable rhythm. Even Mohamed Salah was once written off as a “Chelsea reject” before exploding at Anfield.

Wirtz fits the same archetype of a high-ceiling player whose adaptation curve is steeper than supporters expected. His international and Champions League data show that, when the environment suits him, he still performs at a top level. His Premier League figures, while modest, do not suggest someone drowning, just someone adjusting.

The crucial element is mentality, and on that front Wirtz looks exactly like the kind of character Liverpool can build around. Players who are mentally weak do not overhaul their physique midway through a tough season, maintain elite creative numbers in Europe and continue to show for the ball even when online discourse turns hostile. They go missing. Wirtz hasn’t.

It’s also worth remembering that he has been dropped into a Liverpool side that is itself evolving, with a new-look midfield, different pressing triggers and a changing attacking structure post-Salah. He is not walking into the settled, well-oiled machine that some past signings benefited from. He is being asked to grow at the same time as the team.

The calm before the storm

All of this leads to a simple conclusion: Florian Wirtz is not a mistake; he is a work in progress. The numbers support that reading. His performances for Germany and in the Champions League show the old Wirtz is still very much alive. His league statistics show clear room for improvement but also a meaningful level of involvement, not anonymity. His physical transformation shows commitment. His reputation as one of Europe’s elite technicians hasn’t vanished just because the Premier League has asked him tougher questions.

Liverpool signed Wirtz for what he can be over the next five to seven years, not the first five to seven months. Right now, he looks like a spring that is being slowly wound tighter – more muscle, more familiarity with the league, more understanding with his teammates. When all of that finally clicks, the explosion many expected on day one may arrive a little later than planned, but it will be no less spectacular.

The German ace could have played it safe and moved to Bayern Munich, stayed put in the Bundesliga and racked up the numbers. But the fact that he chose the far more challenging route to move to the Premier League speaks volumes of his character. A move to Anfield was never meant to be easy and despite his price tag, Wirtz was always going to be a long term project.

For now, the smart view is not to write him off, but to recognise that Liverpool are watching an elite talent go through the uncomfortable middle stage of adaptation. And if his data and attitude are anything to go by, Florian Wirtz is not stalling. He’s just getting ready.