Florian Wirtz of Liverpool during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg match at Anfield, Liverpool 18/03/2026
Florian Wirtz of Liverpool during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg match at Anfield, Liverpool 18/03/2026
Uli Hoeneß has never been one to keep his opinions to himself, and Liverpool are the latest club on the receiving end.
Bayern Munich’s honorary president was asked by Welt whether he was glad, looking back, that Bayern missed out on a player Liverpool beat them to in the summer of 2025.
Hoeneß didn’t just say no. He went further and questioned how Liverpool have handled one of the most expensive signings in their history and did not hold back.
“No. Because Florian would play much better for us than he does at Liverpool,” he said to Welt.
“I watch a lot of the team’s games.”
“They haven’t integrated him properly at all.”
“In Leverkusen, he got every ball; in Liverpool, he’s just one of many.”
That is a pointed comment from a man whose club lost the race, and Liverpool supporters can be forgiven for hearing some sour grapes in it.
But it is hard to wave away entirely, because the numbers are not on Liverpool’s side.
Wirtz arrived from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee reported at €125 million after scoring 16 goals and providing 15 assists in 45 matches in 2024/25, but he managed only seven goals and 10 assists in 47 games in his first year at Anfield, just five goals and four assists of them in the Premier League, and has one goal and three assists from 10 appearances this season.
Is Hoeneß right that the problem is Liverpool rather than Wirtz?
There is a case for it, because while Xabi Alonso built his Leverkusen side around him, at Liverpool he has shared the creative load first with Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai and now with Bradley Barcola and a teenage Rio Ngumoha who seems to grow by the week.
Being “one of many” may be part of playing for a club of Liverpool’s size, but it may also be costing them the best version of the player they paid for.
There is a counter argument too.
Wirtz came off the bench at half time against Villarreal on Tuesday and scored his first club goal of the season in the comeback win.
Andoni Iraola only took charge in the summer and is still reshaping a squad that changed heavily after Arne Slot’s exit.
Hoeneß ruled out Bayern trying again, pointing to Wirtz’s contract, which runs until 2030.
“They’ll try to integrate him better there,” he said, which is probably the most diplomatic part of the interview.
With Bayern president Herbert Hainer having already said last week that he felt “a little sorry” for the player, Liverpool won’t welcome the lecture, but the challenge is clear: if Iraola can’t find a way to put Wirtz at the heart of this team, the doubts will only get louder.
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