Florian Wirtz's Struggles at Liverpool: Huth's Concerns
Robert Huth does not see a happy ending coming for Florian Wirtz at Liverpool. In fact, the former Premier League defender can barely see a way back at all.
"I really find it hard to see how this can still turn around," said Huth on All Out Football's podcast In The Mixer, speaking about Wirtz’s early struggles at Anfield. When someone with 322 Premier League appearances and a title win with Leicester City in 2016 talks like that, people tend to listen.
A record fee, a rocky start
Liverpool pushed hard to get Wirtz. In 2025 they wired a hefty 125 million euros to Bayer Leverkusen, betting that the 23-year-old playmaker would become the new heartbeat of their midfield. So far, that gamble has not fully paid off.
His first season on Merseyside was uneven. There were flashes – the kind that remind everyone why he commanded such a fee – but not enough consistency to match the sky-high expectations that followed him from the Bundesliga. Now, under new coach Andoni Iraola, year two is supposed to be the reset, the season that turns promise into dominance.
Huth is not convinced.
Although he called Wirtz "obviously a good player", the 42-year-old warned that the Premier League might simply be too demanding for him physically. "He has real problems with his physicality," said the former Germany international, who won 19 caps and played at the 2006 World Cup on home soil.
Wirtz hits back
Wirtz sees it very differently. Asked recently about his development, he pushed back against the narrative that he cannot cope with the league’s intensity.
"I would say that I have developed in almost every area. Definitely when it comes to my physical level," he told RTL and Sky. Training alone, he argued, forces him to raise his game.
"Even in training, I have to push myself almost to my limits every day, simply because there are players here who are also fully committed in training every day and have that kind of quality. You also have to be at a good level yourself," the Germany international explained.
From his perspective, the adaptation is underway. The body is catching up with the league. The work is being done.
An “expensive problem”?
Huth’s assessment remains harsh. He zoomed in on Wirtz’s display in Liverpool’s opening Premier League match of the season, a 2-2 draw away at Newcastle United, and did not like what he saw.
"His body language is also a bit poor," Huth said, reading more than just tactics and touches into the performance. For him, the signs point in the wrong direction.
He doubts Wirtz can flip the script quickly and even floated the idea that Liverpool might not wait too long before making a brutal decision.
"By Christmas they will probably look to move him on if he does not improve, because he has become an expensive problem for Liverpool," the former centre-back claimed.
The fee is sunk, the pressure is rising, and the clock is already ticking on a 23-year-old who arrived as a marquee signing. The next few months at Anfield will show whether Wirtz is the future of Liverpool’s midfield – or a costly misstep the club tries to correct sooner rather than later.
