Liverpool were actually linked with a surprise move for Lionel Messi this month.
Arne Slot has since suggested Liverpool won’t make January signings when speaking at his pre-Bournemouth press conference.
But earlier in the window, when fans still had some hope of first-team additions arriving, Lionel Messi was mooted as an option.
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The Argentine is now competing in the MLS with Inter Miami, but their season is over, and it was claimed Liverpool were among potential loan options for Messi, who wants to stay sharp in the build-up to the 2026 World Cup.
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Andrew Robertson of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Burnley and Liverpool at Turf Moor
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Any talk of the South American moving to Anfield in the winter has since died down. But that doesn’t matter when Liverpool already have a player better at passing than him anyway, at least in the eyes of Joao Pedro.
Florian Wirtz named a better passer than Lionel Messi
The Chelsea forward conducted an interview with Sports Illustrated, in which he was asked to build his ultimate F50 player.
Pedro was given a number of different players to choose from when selecting each attribute, including passing.
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The Brazilian had to pick one of Florian Wirtz, Ryan Gravenberch, Lionel Messi, himself, Rayan Cherki or Lamine Yamal and opted for Liverpool’s £116m man.
He said: “I think Wirtz. Of course, he had a lot of assists last season.”
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Arne Slot prior to Liverpool v Leeds United - Premier League
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Liverpool teammates let Florian Wirtz down
After a very slow start to life at Anfield, Wirtz’s form has improved dramatically in the last couple of months.
He went 12 Premier League matches without providing a single goal or assist before forcing an own goal in a 1-1 draw with Sunderland last month.
However, while goals have started to flow, three in his last five, the German remains short of assists in the top-flight.
This is despite the fact that in the Premier League, as per FotMob, Wirtz’s xA is 3.44 (the top 90.9% of any player in the division), while his 37 chances created rank him in the top 94.5%.
There was a lot of criticism aimed at the Liverpool forward during the early stages of 2025/26, but if you actually watched him regularly, you could see he was playing well even without contributing on the goal front.
Had his Liverpool teammates finished off a few more of the many chances he has created, Wirtz’s numbers would look much better right now.
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