Florian Wirtz’s father and agent has revealed what his son really thinks about his start to his Liverpool career
Florian Wirtz of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium
Florian Wirtz of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium
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Florian Wirtz’s father and agent, Hans, insists his son does not regret signing for Liverpool despite a slow start to his Anfield career. The German joined the Reds in a deal worth up to £116m from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer as the reigning Premier League champions fought off interest from the likes of Bayern Munich and Man City.
However, the 22-year-old is yet to return a goal contribution in the English top-flight and found himself dropped to the bench for recent clashes with Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United and Aston Villa.
Wirtz has made 16 appearances for Liverpool to date, returning three assists, with his best performances coming in the Champions League.
But with the Germany international so far failing to live up to his hefty price-tag or recreate his eye-catching form for Leverkusen that earned him a move to Anfield in the first place, his performances have inevitably been the subject of increasing scrutiny.
But Wirtz Snr. is not paying much attention to the criticism his son is facing, insisting the Germany international is performing well for Liverpool despite the lack of goals and assists.
"I only take the criticism from the former internationals in passing," he told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. “Florian is a young man who wants to prove himself in a new environment.
“Less than a third of the season has been played. So far, everything is going as expected; it's a completely normal settling-in process, entirely independent of any transfer fee.
“And if you look at the statistics more closely, you can see that Florian's stats regarding his involvement in the game are already quite good; only assists and goals are still pending.”
He continued: “We all really enjoyed our time in Leverkusen. Whenever I pass the BayArena, I always feel a little nostalgic. But that’s just my personal feeling.
“Florian consciously took a step to become an even better footballer. And he doesn’t regret it at all.
“He’s doing well in Liverpool, he looks forward to every training session, and he’s settled in with the team. We’re 100 percent satisfied with how things are going so far.”
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Wirtz Snr. previously defended his son’s start to his Liverpool career earlier this month in an interview with Bild.
While he admitted there was room for improvement, he also insisted Wirtz had settled in well at Anfield.
“My thought from the very beginning was to wait and see how the first ten league games went,” he said. “We and Florian are perfectly happy with that.
“The incredible speed, the back and forth, that was very impressive for the first few games. The distances covered and the speed were significantly greater.
“The style of play is sometimes enormously different because it doesn't seem as organised, but rather more focused on pace.
“I think the league table clearly shows that there's still room for improvement in this football machine.
“But the mechanics will sort that out. I hope he's such a good player that he can adapt to the demands there and that he enjoys it just as much as he did in the Bundesliga.
“He has settled in well with the team and that his teammates certainly recognise his quality.
“It was exciting for him to join a team that had certainly grown and had added one or two new players besides himself. And all of them were of a corresponding quality. All of that was quite exciting for him."