Klopp had originally only called Florian Wirtz into the second squad for the Nations League games against Serbia at home and Greece away. But after Jamal Musiala suffered a muscle fibre tear in the warm-up before the clash with the Netherlands, Klopp brought him into the squad early.
Asked at a press conference on Saturday whether Wirtz was an immediate candidate for the starting XI for Sunday's home game against Greece in Augsburg, the new Germany head coach laughed and replied: "That would really be a huge ask. He found out yesterday morning, arrived here yesterday evening, and then we say: now that you're here, go straight in and play. That would certainly be the worst thing we could do right now."
In the summer of 2025, Wirtz moved from Bayer Leverkusen to Klopp's former club Liverpool for 125 million euros. His first season was mixed, before a poor World Cup with the Germany national team. Right now, Wirtz is established in attacking midfield at Liverpool but is still searching for his best form.
Given Klopp's special position as the former Reds manager, it made "absolutely no sense" to talk about Wirtz's situation at Liverpool, he felt. "That would go far too far and create headlines that we genuinely do not want to create right now. No matter what I would say, whether positive or negative, it would be a huge story in this case."
"Wirtz came to Liverpool at the most unfavourable of all moments"
Even so, Klopp then spoke at length about Wirtz. "Flo Wirtz's footballing abilities are beyond any doubt," Klopp explained. "We will work together on making sure he can show them on the pitch again every three days. We will absolutely try whatever we can contribute towards that. In general, I think he is on a very good path. But the world we live in is basically such that things never happen quickly enough for people."
Klopp said Wirtz arrived at Liverpool in 2025 at the "most unfavourable of all moments. By that I do not mean that Liverpool won the title the year before, but rather the tragic death of Diogo Jota. He came into a team with an incredible number of players for whom football, at that moment, had quite understandably dropped down the list of priorities. Then you arrive as a new player and everyone immediately longs for someone to pull their chestnuts out of the fire. That is impossible. This year has passed and he has certainly learned a lot. Now we are in a new season with a new manager."
IMAGOHow have Liverpool and Wirtz started the season?
After a season without silverware, Liverpool parted ways with Arne Slot in the summer and Andoni Iraola took over. Five matches in, Liverpool sit sixth in the Premier League with nine points. They have also opened with wins in the League Cup against Tottenham Hotspur and in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid. Wirtz has started six of the seven competitive matches so far and has one assist.
Klopp said Wirtz is "physically in a very good condition", but Liverpool are "once again in the process of finding themselves. Attacking players always need a functioning team that takes care of everything around them. When you are always in the spotlight, it is not easy," Klopp said, before recalling his opening words: "I have already said far too much about it now. I hope I have remained general enough."
He concluded: "It was simply a very unfortunate constellation. But everyone who loves football can still see what an exceptional player he is. We cannot do more than integrate him into our team with enough training time and give him confidence, a good feeling and ideally positive experiences step by step, and then send him back to Liverpool."