Jurgen Klopp has leapt to the defence of Florian Wirtz after Liverpool manager Arne Slot decided to leave the attacking midfielder out of the starting line-up against Manchester United, but Anfield legend Jamie Carragher still has his doubts.<\/p>\n
Much was expected of Wirtz<\/a> when Liverpool signed the Germany international attacking midfielder from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2025. Liverpool, who won the Premier League title under manager Arne Slot last season, paid an\u00a0initial \u00a3100million (\u20ac115m, $134m) to Bayer Leverkusen for Wirtz, with a further \u00a316m (\u20ac18.4m, $21.5m) to come in add-ons.<\/p>\n Wirtz arrived at Liverpool<\/a> having won the Bundesliga title with Bayer in the 2023\/24 campaign and scoring 57 goals and giving 65 assists in 197 appearances.<\/p>\n The 22-year-old\u2019s performances for Liverpool so far this season have been underwhelming, with the playmaker giving just one assist in 11 appearances for the Merseyside club.<\/p>\n Liverpool manager Slot<\/a> decided to drop Wirtz from the starting line-up for the Premier League game against Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday.<\/p>\n The 22-year-old did come on as a substitute in the 62nd\u00a0minute and was involved in Cody Gakpo\u2019s goal in the 78th\u00a0minute when he found Federico Chiesa\u00a0to tee up for the Dutchman.<\/p>\n Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp<\/a> believes that no one should dismiss Wirtz just yet and has made it clear to Slot that he is an \u201cincredible\u201d player.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udea8\ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea Jurgen Klopp: \u201cYou all will eat your words if you use the wrong words with Florian Wirtz\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s an incredible talent\u201d, told @StevenBartlett<\/a> on Diary Of A CEO. pic.twitter.com\/ywtU8w6Fuv<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n READ NEXT\u00a0<\/strong>\ud83d\udd34 Sky Sports reporter mocks Liverpool after Man Utd loss \u2013 Slot\u2019s tactical disasterclass needs more condemnation<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Jamie Carragher\u2019s doubts over Florian Wirtz at Liverpool<\/strong><\/p>\n This is not the first time that Klopp has praised Wirtz, with the former Liverpool manager raving about his German compatriot earlier this month, too.<\/p>\n Klopp told German outlet n-tv about Wirtz: \u201cHis quality is so outstanding. The discussions are a bit exaggerated.<\/p>\n \u201cLiverpool just lost three games in a row, which is unusual. But that\u2019s also normal in life. And that\u2019s why such things are discussed there.<\/p>\n \u201c[Wirtz is] a once-in-a-century talent, and at some point he\u2019ll show that in every game again \u2013 just as he did at Leverkusen.\u201d<\/p>\n Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann\u00a0noted about Wirtz on Sport 1: \u201cEven though he hasn\u2019t scored any goals, he is still the player who creates the most chances in the Premier League.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not his fault if his team-mates don\u2019t convert them, and the statistics don\u2019t even tell the whole story.<\/p>\n \u201cWirtz needs to get used to the league. I saw him playing with total freedom. He knows what he\u2019s capable of and how things work.<\/p>\n \u201cHe hasn\u2019t always had it easy \u2013 he\u2019ll have to work hard now too.\u201d<\/p>\n Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes that if it does not happen for Wirtz in the coming weeks, then he could turn out to be a flop.<\/p>\n Carragher told Sky Sports after Liverpool\u2019s defeat to Manchester United: \u201cHow long do you give foreign players when they first come to the league?<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t write the first year off but you say the second year they\u2019ll improve and get better.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, if I\u2019m being honest, if I think of the great foreign signings \u2013 Sami Hyppia, Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Luis Suarez, Didi Hamann \u2013 they all hit the ground running.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t think of many, who had an average, poor start \u2013 I\u2019m not talking seven games by the way but if you\u2019re getting to Christmas and January and being like \u2018oh\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cHistory doesn\u2019t tell me that foreign signings coming into England take a year.\u201d<\/p>\n When prompted that Thierry Henry did not score in his first eight matches with Arsenal, Carragher noted: \u201cExactly. Wwhat I\u2019m saying is it wasn\u2019t a year.<\/p>\n \u201cSeven or eight games is too early [to judge] but once we get to January, February, March when is the time we can start saying \u2018maybe this was a mistake?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially at Liverpool, players who are great foreign signings for the club hit the ground running.\u201d<\/p>\n HAVE YOU SIGNED UP?<\/strong>\u00a0\ud83d\udcab\u00a0Get the inside story first by joining\u00a0our\u00a0TEAMtalk Facebook channel<\/a>\u00a0to receive the latest breaking and exclusive news straight into your Messenger inbox.<\/p>\n Latest Liverpool news: Real Madrid bid, Newcastle fans on Isak performance<\/strong><\/p>\n Meanwhile, Real Madrid are planning to bid for a defender in January<\/a>, with Liverpool\u2019s stance being to sign him in the summer of 2026.<\/p>\n\n