Why Florian Wirtz’s crisis at Liverpool is more serious than you think

Analysis

Robin Bairner | Chief Editor

Florian Wirtz finally scored his first goal of the season for Liverpool on Tuesday against Villarreal in the Champions League, but the German’s ongoing struggles to make a consistent impact under Andoni Iraola represent a potential crisis at Anfield.

Prior to the midweek clash with Villarreal, Wirtz had failed to score for 740 minutes this season. While he had created two goals, his drought in front of net helped make Iraola’s decision to bench him a more straightforward one.

Crucially, this was the first time that the 23-year-old was left out of the starting XI by Iraola in either a Premier League or Champions League match, hinting towards a slowly changing status in the squad.

A long-standing general consensus that Wirtz will eventually come good at Liverpool has also shifted since the beginning of the season.

This begs the question: what if he simply remains a flop?

Well, it promises to cause Liverpool a major headache, but there is also a bigger issue facing the future of Wirtz’s career itself.

Wirtz’s Liverpool problem could become a career crisis

From Liverpool’s perspective, Wirtz continues to hold his worth. Although his €116.5 million Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) is well down from its peak at €138m, if the Reds were able to raise this figure from a sale, they would doubtless consider the damage from a financial perspective to be limited given they paid €125m to sign him from Bayer Leverkusen.

The bigger concern is arguably with the future of the 23-year-old himself. Can he find a club that will allow him to rediscover the level that he showed at Leverkusen?

Clubs capable of spending €100m on players are few and far between, instantly limiting his options. Furthermore, tactical nuances have a role to play in allowing any player, no matter how good, to flourish.

And this is where the real worry for Wirtz should come. How many clubs play in a style that can get the best out of a player who is a technical wizard but is struggling to show his qualities?

The answer is: not many.

SciSports’ Career Advice tool judges the suitability of clubs for players based around many different criteria, from development potential and game time to playing style and formation.

When it comes to playing style, remarkably only eight clubs in the top 100 score even three stars for Wirtz. If the bar is raised to four stars, there is only a quartet of clubs that fit the German’s needs: Newcastle, Tottenham, Bournemouth and Leeds.

Tottenham could be the unlikely answer for Wirtz

Of this select group, only Spurs have a history of spending the type of money required to sign Wirtz from Liverpool.

Clearly, the German would be making a sacrifice to move to the London side. Roberto De Zerbi’s outfit are in the grip of a relegation battle for the second successive season, while their potential to develop him is rated with just one star. Their overall Club Fit score, meanwhile, is a modest 67.

Should Wirtz’s struggles at Liverpool continue, however, he may need to consider sacrificing the glamour of chasing titles to remind everyone just how good a footballer he can be. And that may mean making a transfer he would not normally consider.

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