Florian Wirtz’s underwhelming start to life at Liverpool is being blamed on one of his team-mates in bizarre claims from the German media.
Wirtz’s big £116million summer move to the Premier League champions – then British transfer record before Alexander Isak joined from Newcastle – has been scrutinised with the playmaker struggling to adapt to life in England.
And Sport Bild are attributing that down to Mohamed Salah’s own displays for the Reds this season – adding that the Egyptian is a detriment to the team in general in a scything assessment.
They believe that Liverpool, who sit eighth in the Premier League table, and Wirtz’s shortcomings are down to the forward failing to provide any assists for him.
Writing in their edition on Wednesday, they state: ‘It’s noticeable that he’s overlooked Wirtz and hasn’t made any of the other summer signings, who together cost around half a billion euros, shine.
‘Salah has provided three assists this season, all of which led to goals, all for players who have been with the club longer.
‘Salah is increasingly becoming a major problem for Liverpool and Wirtz.’
Delving further into their reasoning they claim that Salah is a ‘major problem’ for Arne Slot’s side with his ‘stubbornness’ an often discussed topic inside their team dressing room.
‘Salah is increasingly becoming a major problem for Liverpool and Wirtz!’ they state.
‘He is the king of the champions, seemingly blocking their successful new beginning. And thus, the future of his successor as the attacking leader: €140m signing Wirtz.’
‘There’s no doubt that he’s intended to be the leader of the future.’
Completing their damning assessment of Salah they add: ‘The question is, who will dethrone Salah. The club, the coach, or his team-mates?
‘It seems quite possible that Salah will move to Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2026.’
Wirtz, who scored 57 goals in 197 Bayer Leverkusen appearances before joining Liverpool, has been criticised for his start on Merseyside so far.
He is yet to is yet to register a single goal or assist after 11 games in the Premier League.
Meanwhile, Salah has four goals and two assists from the same number of matches.
Before the international break, Liverpool were soundly beaten 3-0 at Manchester City with Wirtz’s display coming under-fire from Gary Neville who described him as a looking like a ‘little boy’.
‘I thought Wirtz in particular – it was a really bad day for him,’ he said on the Gary Neville podcast.
‘We’ve been tip-toeing around him haven’t we, for a few months, around the fact that he’s young, coming to a new country. But he’s £120m, you’re going to have to stand up soon.
‘I mean he’s obviously got something. He’s a really good player and technically fantastic, but he’s been mauled out there today by [Matheus] Nunes and by others. He’s been chucked around the pitch and didn’t deliver in the quality side of things either. His performance was a real worry.
‘Wirtz is a problem, let’s call it what it is. It’s an issue. He’s £120m and he looked like a little boy out there.
‘It can’t be the case. He’s a German international of great standing and he looks well short of what you’d expect from a top physical match.
‘They’ve got to get him up to speed and get that tenacity into him that means he can get into form. They’ve got to stick with him, and persist, but they’ve got to find a way to get the best out of him.’
Wirtz, Salah and Liverpool will look to do their talking on the pitch when they host Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
