Carragher warns Wirtz he looks like a £40m player, not a £115m game-changer

Jamie Carragher has issued a blunt warning to Florian Wirtz, arguing that Liverpool’s £115m playmaker must dramatically raise his level this season or risk being defined as one of the most expensive mismatches in Premier League history.

Writing in The Telegraph, the Liverpool legend and pundit said Wirtz had looked “neat and tidy” rather than the decisive, penalty-box threat his fee and reputation demanded. “He has resembled a useful squad addition for about £40m rather than a game-changer who cost £115m,” Carragher wrote, adding that the 23-year-old would be given only weeks, not months, to prove himself in the coming campaign.

Wirtz arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2024 in formidable form, having spearheaded Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten Bundesliga title-winning run. In the two seasons before his move, he registered 11 goals and 12 assists in 2023/24, then 10 goals and 13 assists in his final year in Germany. Liverpool beat off competition from Manchester City and Bayern Munich to secure his signature.

His debut Premier League season, however, told a different story. Wirtz managed five goals and four assists across 33 league appearances as Liverpool struggled in attack, finishing the campaign as defending champions but well below the standards they had set the previous year.

Carragher acknowledged the broader context, suggesting Wirtz may prove to be “the right signing in the wrong era” — arriving at precisely the moment the Premier League’s preferred style shifted toward set-piece dominance, a game built less around the technical creativity that defines the German’s best work. “The jury is out on whether he possesses the tools to overcome the physical challenge,” Carragher wrote. “I must admit, I have my doubts.”

The pundit also framed the stakes as extending beyond Wirtz himself, arguing that English football has a vested interest in seeing a player of his profile succeed. New head coach Andoni Iraola, who replaced Arne Slot at Anfield, will be central to whether Wirtz can rediscover the form that made him one of Europe’s most coveted midfielders.

Wirtz addressed his difficult first season after Liverpool’s 3-2 pre-season defeat to AS Monaco, keeping his focus on collective rather than personal goals. “I’m just trying to make my job better, to make the team better,” he said. “I just want to be the best version of myself. I try my best to win as many trophies as possible.”

With Liverpool looking to bounce back quickly and Iraola building his squad identity, the pressure on Wirtz to deliver the performances that justified his record fee has rarely been greater.