There came a moment early in the match against Galatasaray in the Champions League for Liverpool’s summer marquee signing Florian Wirtz.
The German, who arrived from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of £115million, was at the end of an early attack from the visitors in Istanbul after some fine play from his teammates.
With the goal at his mercy, Wirtz tamely slapped a shot straight at Ugurcan Cakir, who gleefully palmed the ball away.
Liverpool had found themselves a goal down but given a golden chance to get a quick equaliser and shift the momentum.
— moutardier edwige (@EdwigeDede) March 10, 2026
As it happened; the chance got away, Galatasaray regrouped and Liverpool’s attack were blunted.
It came after a chaotic start of the match for the Turkish side, where former Tottenham star Davinson Sanchez was guilty of a number of hairy moments that the Reds did not capitalise on.
I love wirtz but oh my world he needs to start learning how to shoot. Why does he always shoot like he’s begged to. That’s way too unserious pic.twitter.com/DG4UVugwYQ
— Ipostanything LFC (@ipostanythingLF) March 10, 2026
It was not even the only chance Wirtz had, with the goal at his mercy after the goalkeeper had wandered out, but no. Again, a massive chance went begging.
Liverpool went on to lose 1-0.
It is time for Liverpool fans to wake up and smell the daisies – this man is an utter flop.
Let’s get real, Florian Wirtz has been terrible
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GETTY
For a player to cost so much, you are expecting a seismic shift in how your football is played.
However, if anything, Liverpool have gone backwards.
Arne Slot was basically given a blank cheque in the summer with the arrivals of Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Jeremie Frimpong, Hugo Ekitike and Milos Kerkez.
Having won the Premier League at a canter last year, many expected the Reds to sweep home and reclaim their crown this season.
What has followed has been a remarkable drop-off. Despite strengthening the squad significantly and spending close to half a billion in transfer fees, they have regressed to a level no one predicted.
Many are now calling for Slot to be sacked with Liverpool sixth in the Premier League and at real risk of crashing out of the Champions League at the first knockout stage.
But while the Dutchman is copping much of the flak, plenty of blame must also be directed at Wirtz – the new ‘Kevin de Bruyne’ that Liverpool beat Bayern Munich and Manchester City to the signing of.
Well, the 22-year-old has looked more De Guzman than De Bruyne, and does not even appear to have a position in the Liverpool XI.
Is he a winger? No, he is not dynamic enough. Is he a No. 10? Maybe, but he is too slow. What about a central midfielder? Possibly, but he gets relentlessly bullied in the middle of the pitch.
Florian Wirtz has not had the impact many thought he would at Liverpool
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REUTERS
Now in defence of Wirtz, he is a young man coming from the Bundesliga to the Premier League, a seismic jump in quality, physicality and competition, let’s be honest.
In 37 appearances this season, he has 14 goal contributions. Not terrible, though his league stats are nothing to sing home about with four goals and three assists – not what you want from your supposedly talismanic signing.
He also has suffered from his teammates dropping off serious form. Mohamed Salah, now regarded as one of Liverpool’s greatest players, has scored just five times in the Premier League.
Even Ekitike, who arrived in hot form, has gone off the boil, scoring four goals in all competitions post-Christmas.
However, some of the discourse around Wirtz has become nauseating nonsense with pundits up and down the country often praising the midfielder for the most basic of things.
A five-yard pass is commended as genius or a shot on target being built up as some phenomenal moment. Analytical pieces have been published saying “Wirtz is worth every penny”… seriously?
For those of us who have eyes, we can see straight through this fantastical facade. He is a decent player on his day but is probably too lightweight for the Premier League.
His abysmal performance against Galatasaray barely received a mention.
This was despite having multiple chances to give Liverpool a huge victory, something players of his worth are expected to do.
Florian Wirtz desperately needs to up his game – this has been a poor season from the German
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REUTERS
Luis Diaz, who left Liverpool last summer, has gone on to score 20 times and makes 17 assists for Bayern Munich this season.
Liverpool desperately miss that dynamism, a winger who can take on his man and make something happen – Wirtz just isn’t that player.
Yet when he pops up with an assist against Burnley, we will not hear the end of it.
Certainly not worth 11,500,000,000 pennies.
