Why Liverpool won’t be ‘quick to sell’ Florian Wirtz despite struggles from £116m star as former Red backs German playmaker to ‘come good’

Wirtz has found the going tough in English football, with the form that he displayed in a Bundesliga title-winning Bayer Leverkusen team proving difficult to replicate.

He registered seven goals and as many assists across his debut campaign at Anfield, but much more was expected having passed 20-plus contributions through each of his final two seasons in Germany.

Questions have already been asked of whether the 23-year-old, who also endured a difficult 2026 World Cup in North America, can become the player that Liverpool believe he is and need him to be. A spark is yet to be rekindled at the start of 2026-27.

Some tough decisions may need to be made in the not too distant future, with Wirtz’s value only going to head in one direction if his current malaise continues. Could the Reds open themselves up to offers in 2027?

When that question was put to Pennant, the ex-Liverpool winger - who was speaking courtesy of NetBet Casino - told GOAL: “It's a big season for Wirtz. Obviously you give him the benefit of the doubt, of coming into a new league, getting used to a new team.

“We've seen players in the past take a season-and-a-half really to find their feet and click into gear. So it is a big season. A new manager's come in so now he's got a new style of play. So is that going to be a setback or not? But I think there'll be a lot of eyes on Wirtz this season.

“He's a good player regardless of what's been going on and his fee. I think he can get better but if he doesn't perform like he did at Leverkusen… I don't think they'll be so quick to sell him because you need those kind of players in your squad, in your team and the bigger the squad depth you've got then you'll only benefit. I'm sure he will come good.”

Another former Liverpool star that once graced the Champions League final, Dietmar Hamann, is not as convinced that Wirtz will be given more than a matter of months in order to prove his worth.

The ex-Germany international has told GOAL of his fellow countryman: “He's got to start playing well. He has to start influencing the game. I think he's a player who floats. He's probably not got that respect from the other players that sometimes maybe he can stop defending, because I think you've got to give him certain liberties and a certain freedom, that you've got players who win the ball back for him. And the players don't mind doing it if when he does get the ball 10 times, six, seven, eight times, something's going to happen. That's just not the case.

“Now he's working very hard going backwards. I think sometimes he's doing too much. He wants to help the team because he sees that he can influence the game going forward. So I think the balance in his game has been wrong, but he will only get the respect of the players when he starts influencing the game going forward. He's not there to win balls, he's there to set up goals and score goals.

“I think there were maybe a handful of games where he did that last season. And it's simply not enough. And obviously, everybody's talking about the physical side of the Premier League. Yes, it's more physical. And some of the best players took some time to adapt. I think [Juan Sebastian] Veron came lauded as the best midfield player. I think he lasted one season and went back to Italy. So some just can't do it or don't want to do it.

“And obviously, the longer it goes on now, because I said the first two or three months, give him time. I said he's too good to fail. But once it went past Christmas, I said, I don't think he's going to crack it anymore because it's too long now. Because expectations are not getting any less.

“I think if he doesn't start playing well, I think if he doesn't start influencing games in the next three or four weeks, I think by the time we have that international break, which is longer this year, I think we have a lot of paper talk, a lot of discussions, whether the club should have bought him, which is obviously too late because he's there. And maybe him thinking, ‘well, maybe this is not for me’.

“I think something will happen because for a player of that magnitude, of that stature, the amount of money he costs, it's simply not enough. You've got to find a solution somehow, maybe even in winter, if things don't get better.”

Wirtz posted another blank on the goal contribution front, alongside the rest of his team-mates, as Liverpool were held to an uninspiring 0-0 draw by Fulham in their latest Premier League fixture.

New boss Andoni Iraola is yet to suffer a competitive defeat at the start of his reign, ahead of a Carabao Cup third-round clash with Tottenham on Tuesday, but has picked up only six points through four fixtures this season and needs some big-money assets to start firing on all cylinders.