Pre-Liverpool, Florian Wirtz – while he was on the books of Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen – was one of the best playmakers in world football and, as a result, he completed his move to Merseyside for a Premier League-record fee of £116 million. Things have not gone swimmingly for the 22-year-old German and striker-turned-pundit Thierry Henry's take on why his summer has flopped has caused a stir.
After winning the Premier League title with four matches to spare, the Reds – managed by Arne Slot, who became just the fifth manager to reign supreme in their maiden campaign – spent big in the summer. Hugo Ekitike moved from Eintracht Frankfurt for £86 million; Alexander Isak arrived from Newcastle United for a record-breaking price, while Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong arrived to bolster their full-back ranks.
Yet to plunder a goal contribution in the Premier League, Wirtz broke his duck with an assist in their Community Shield loss to Crystal Palace on August 10, and he's plundered two assists – both against Frankfurt – in the Champions League. But, all in all, it's been much more of a struggle in England's top flight. As things stand, he's gone 693 minutes without making much of an impact on final third proceedings.
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Thierry Henry Causes Stir After Explaining Florian Wirtz's Dip in Form Since Joining Liverpool
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Ahead of the weekend's North London Derby, Henry's attention turned towards the ever-growing struggles of Xavi Simons' since moving to Tottenham Hotspur for £51 million and whether the young Dutchman has the ability to adapt to the trials and tribulations of Premier League football. Simons, who is yet to score for the north Londoners in 15 outings across all competitions, is in a similar situation to the aforementioned Wirtz.
On the German, Henry explained why fans are not seeing the latter at his creative best as, on punditry duty for Sky Sports, the former Arsenal man claimed that he always holds reservations over players moving to the Premier League from Germany's top tier. "It’s not easy to arrive in a team and perform straight away," he began. "We can see Florian Wirtz at Liverpool, but I will always have a question mark on people that perform in Germany."
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Henry continued to suggest that games in the Bundesliga are 'really stretched' compared to those in England. "That’s only me. I’m not saying that they won’t perform in another league. I’m just saying, because of the way the league is, they’re really stretched. So if you can run well, you’re going to have a lot of opportunities, goals, assists.
"People can run with you in this league, so it’s very difficult. And if we go back to what you were saying, Jamie, and what you asked Kelly [Cates] before – do you think the managers right now are letting their players dribble, or do they want to control everything to make sure they’re not going to get countered? Playing a low block all the time. It is not always easy to create.
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"Look at Arsenal," Henry continued. We don’t create a lot of opportunities. We score a lot on set pieces. I’m not going to go back to the old story and everything, but you need to find a way to score goals. So you’re going to create way less than what we used to be able to do in our time because teams are playing low. They don’t try to bite or come out. So the spaces are tight."
Premier League icon Henry concluded his assessment of Wirtz by saying: "If you don’t allow people to dribble and make mistakes, like I always say, the reward is in the risk. Where are you going? You’re not going to have the stats of creating. And if you don’t take your chances when you have one, well, you’re in trouble."
If anyone knows what it takes to make a difference in the final third, Henry is among them. The Frenchman – widely regarded as one of the greatest centre-forwards in the history of football – scored plenty of goals at the sharp end of the pitch for the Gunners. That said, there are many fans who believe that his most recent take was a poor one. "This is a very bad take, I don't care who says it," one said.
Another took to X (formerly Twitter) to spread their admiration for Henry before suggesting that his remarks are 'very stupid'. "Love Henry but this is a very stupid thing to say. He should just keep his mouth shut next time." A third – and final – supporter wrote: "Embarrassing from Henry, feels like a s***post."
All statistics per Transfermarkt – correct as of 24/11/2025