New position for Florian Wirtz touted as alarming stat underpins £116m superstar’s Liverpool struggles

Liverpool have been warned they will soon need to consider either dropping Florian Wirtz to the bench or using him in a new position after the German was branded a major disappointment, and with a staggering stat detailing how many times he lost possession against Burnley on Sunday.

The Reds raised eyebrows when agreeing to make the much-heralded Germany playmaker their new record signing earlier this summer, paying Bayer Leverkusen a fee ultimately worth a staggering £116m (€140m, $160m). While that fee has since been usurped by the signing of Alexander Isak, the German’s presence as part of a whopping £440m summer spree at Liverpool has raised expectations on Merseyside.

And while the defending champions have started well – their 100% record in the Premier League was narrowly protected after a last-gasp Mo Salah penalty secured a 1-0 win at Burnley on Sunday – question marks have been raised over Wirtz‘s performances so far.

The 22-year-old has just one assist to his name so far, that coming in the defeat on penalties to Crystal Palace in the Community Shield.

More alarmingly, the fact that Wirtz lost possession a staggering 21 times at Turf Moor on Sunday is unusual for a player of his calibre and not what Liverpool would come to expect from such a costly addition.

Off the back of that, former Reds star Steve Nicol has suggested Arne Slot should take him out of the side, or at the very least, consider picking him on the left of Liverpool’s attack, as opposed the No.10 role he is currently operating in.

“Well, there has to be a point where you do bench them. You could try and play him on the left,” Nicol told ESPN.

“I mean, there has to come a point where Arne Slot has to decide whether Florian has to sit (on the bench)… If that’s the best thing for the team, then again Slot that’s why he gets paid the big bucks. You have to make tough decisions regardless of whether you paid £112 million for somebody or not, if they’re not producing.

“Then you have to make a decision, and that can’t be that far away, quite honestly.”

GO DEEPER ➡️ Wirtz not in top 10 as 50 best Premier League signings from the summer transfer window are ranked

Florian Wirtz: Costly star is Liverpool’s biggest disappointment

Nicol feels Liverpool could rightly have expected so much more already from Wirtz, who lit up the Bundesliga with 57 goals and 65 assists from 197 appearances for Leverkusen prior to his move to Anfield.

Nicol added: “If we were going to talk about one player who is disappointed the most, I think we’d have to say, if ever a player was brought in to break down a game, this was it today… And that, I’m afraid, is Florian Wirtz’s job.

“That’s what he was brought in to do. And today, just again, he couldn’t do it, and he hasn’t done it yet since he’s come to the club now.

“The fact that Liverpool wins again probably means that Arne Slot can keep pushing Florian Wirtz in the starting 11 and keep giving him time, hoping that his true form is going to come out.”

With Wirtz struggling to get up to speed and exert his influence on games, his displays have also come under fire from Micah Richards, who he claims is ‘just not clicking’.

“I think in midfield with Wirtz, at this moment in time, it’s not clicking,” Richards said on The Rest is Football podcast.

“It will come good because he is that good a player, but when you spend £100m plus on someone, you would expect them to play well straight away.

“He’s obviously very tidy, but he’s finding it harder than I thought he would, I thought he would slot in straight away, but that is something that they have to look at.

“If you look at Liverpool in previous years when they’ve been successful, they’ve had a high-energy midfield, but he slows it down a little bit.

“He can, of course, find a pass, play a ball, but he’s not the Wirtz I expected at this moment in time, so once he starts firing, they’ll be even better.”

Liverpool did see better from Wirtz in the second half and his silky touch resulted in a free-kick on the edge of the box, which Dominik Szoboszlai fired over, but also resulted in a second yellow card for Lesley Ugochukwu, which thus allowed the visitors to assert extra pressure on the hosts’ goal, ultimately leading to the awarding of that injury-time penalty for handball.

In the meantime, though, Slot may well consider taking Wirtz out of the firing line against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, with the option to recall Szoboszlai into the No.10 and restore either Jeremie Frimpong or Conor Bradley at right-back.

Liverpool latest: Slot needs huge money for top 2026 target; Isak debut warning

Meanwhile, Liverpool have been told they will need to fork out a fee close to their transfer record if they want to prise a top target to Anfield in 2026 amid suggestions Slot has a plan in place to phase out an all-time Anfield great.

Elsewhere, Liverpool have been encouraged that a deal to sign an ‘unflappable’ Premier League midfielder is on the cards amid claims of a 40% cut to his asking price, though TEAMtalk can analyse whether his signing would be a smart move.

And finally, Slot has warned Liverpool fans it will be some time before British record signing Alexander Isak is ready for a full debut, while also addressing fears Alexis Mac Allister faces a spell on the sidelines through injury.

Quiz ~ how well do you know Liverpool’s summer signing Florian Wirtz?