"When Liverpool secured the signature of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen last summer, the reaction around English football was immediate. You could almost sense the collective jolt from Premier League rivals. One of the world's brightest young footballers was joining a squad that had already cruised to the 2024‑25 title. Even with a £100 million fee - rising to £116m with add‑ons - few questioned the investment beyond rival supporters or those unfamiliar with Wirtz's Bundesliga exploits."
"A slick pass released fellow newcomer Hugo Ekitiké to score against Crystal Palace in the Community Shield at Wembley. Still, despite Liverpool opening their Premier League title defence with five consecutive victories, their performances lacked conviction - and the same was true for Wirtz. His talent was apparent in scattered moments, but he often appeared physically overmatched, occasionally made poor decisions, and struggled to form the intuitive connections with teammates that had defined his time at Leverkusen."
Florian Wirtz joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer for a fee of £100 million, rising to £116m with add-ons. He provided an assist four minutes into his competitive debut, releasing Hugo Ekitiké to score in the Community Shield at Wembley. Early Premier League matches showed scattered moments of quality but physical mismatches, poor decisions, and weak teammate intuition limited his contributions. Wirtz went without a league goal or assist as Liverpool initially won but then suffered a severe slump, losing nine of twelve matches. He produced notable performances in Champions League wins over Eintracht Frankfurt and Real Madrid, including two assists against Frankfurt, and recent form indicates he is beginning to settle into his role.
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