Liverpool stance on brutal Florian Wirtz transfer exit explained after woes return in Brentford loss

Florian Wirtz failed to build any momentum from the double assist he provided in the Champions League on Wednesday, as Liverpool’s loss to Brentford put the big summer signing back in the spotlight for unwanted reasons.

On the back of a 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in midweek, Liverpool were hoping they could turn a corner. However, their slump in the Premier League continued with a 3-2 loss to Brentford. It was their fourth consecutive defeat in the Premier League.

And while Wirtz ended his long wait for a goal contribution when back on German soil, he failed to register a goal or assist this time around. He remains without a goal contribution from his first nine Premier League appearances.

Considering he was Liverpool’s most expensive signing of all time, for a couple of months until being surpassed by Alexander Isak, there has been a lot of scrutiny on Wirtz, with some even claiming the Reds could regret their decision to sign him.

Rumours of an early exit for Wirtz have now drawn a response from within Anfield, according to reports.

“Regarding speculation surrounding Wirtz’s future, Liverpool are totally dismissive of anything around him,” journalist Graeme Bailey told Rousing The Kop.

“Social media can be quite vociferous with things, but Liverpool know they’ve got a world class player. Talk of them thinking about cashing in or anything like that is absolute nonsense.

“They’re committed to Wirtz, there’s no ifs or buts, they love him as a person and a player and know he’ll come good.”

Wirtz is still only 22 years old and has a contract until 2030 with Liverpool, who’ll be hoping he can start posting similar numbers to the ones he did with previous club Bayer Leverkusen.

But even beyond the lack of goals and assists, the stats didn’t look great against Brentford.

READ MORE: Ranking the Klopp signings at Liverpool most likely to leave next as Slot faces Salah conundrum

Wirtz’s performance vs Brentford by stats

Wirtz started and played 83 minutes of Liverpool’s loss to Brentford, before being replaced by Joe Gomez in a late tactical reshuffle.

From his time on the pitch, Wirtz failed to aim a single shot on target or make a single accurate cross.

His passing accuracy was 76%, the worst of any Liverpool starter outfield except Mohamed Salah (70%).

Wirtz only made one key pass and completed only one successful dribble, losing possession 14 times.

All in all, he lost four out of his six duels.

Latest Liverpool news: Salah successor, Slot sack?

Another Liverpool player under pressure in recent weeks has been Mohamed Salah, although he got back on the scoresheet against Brentford.

Liverpool will be hoping for more from him after his major contract renewal in the summer, but do also have to keep some potential successors in the back of their mind.

On that front, there has been fresh speculation about a raid on a Premier League rival for a player with 25 goals to his name in the English top flight.

In other news, one player is said to be destined to leave Liverpool in 2026.

And ex-Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has chimed in on Arne Slot sack talk.

Florian Wirtz quiz – can you get full marks?