Everton midfielder Merlin Röhl has waded into the debate about Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz, insisting that the size of his transfer fee is a major part of the issue.
Wirtz has found himself under the scrutiny spotlight again early on this season as he looks to find his place in Andoni Iraola’s system.
There is growing pressure on the German international to prove his worth, after a disappointing first season in the Premier League last year.
He was undoubtedly the star arrival after joining from Bayer Leverkusen in a €125m deal. Wirtz arrived with a glowing reputation too, after managing 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 games for the club.
Liverpool hasn’t gone to plan
Turmoil at Liverpool last season saw him struggle to reproduce his Leverkusen form, with just seven goals and 11 assists in 55 games so far in red.
That’s led some high-profile pundits to believe Liverpool are never going to see any more than what he is currently offering.
Röhl has been watching on from the other side of Merseyside at Everton. And he thinks that the big issue is that price tag.
“People don’t quite know how to rate him yet,” he told Kicker.
“Then there’s that huge transfer fee, which doesn’t make things easy for anyone. But Flo is an incredibly good player.”
Premier League fascination
For the Everton midfielder, this is part of both the allure and the harsh reality of English football.
“You’re either praised to the skies or, at times, verbally torn to shreds,” he added.
“In a way, I think it’s precisely these extremes that fascinate people here about the sport.”
He, then, appears convinced that English football will see the best of Florian Wirtz before too long. With Jurgen Klopp now fighting in his corner for the German national team, perhaps that will be the case.
For Everton, they’ll be hoping that if any revival is on the way, it comes after the Merseyside derby on November 29th.