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Florian Wirtz briefly held the tag of the most expensive player in British football when he joined Liverpool for £116 million ($157m) in 2025, but the question is now being asked whether he could be moved on before ever showing his very best in the Premier League. The 23-year-old's fellow German and former Reds midfielder Dietmar Hamann has indicated when transfer speculation around Anfield could start gathering pace.

How many goals has Wirtz scored for Liverpool?

Wirtz arrived from his homeland amid huge hype in a record-breaking transfer. He had won the Bundesliga title with Bayer Leverkusen and was widely tipped to light up English football with the creativity he brings.

However, his beginning was underwhelming, with Liverpool making a poor start to the 2025-26 season and never really finding top gear. Wirtz finished with only seven goals and seven assists for the Reds, despite expectations being far higher. As a result, there have inevitably been plenty of awkward questions over the value he is adding to the team.

When Liverpool could become open to offers

Even after spending heavily on Wirtz, who is still trying to find his spark at the start of 2026-27, Liverpool cannot keep waiting indefinitely for him to deliver, and two seasons may be all he gets to secure a long-term future on Merseyside.

He may not even be afforded that much time, with Hamann - speaking in association with Betinia NJ - telling GOAL when asked what Wirtz needs from the current season and when rumours over a possible exit might begin: “He's got to start playing well. He has to start influencing the game.

“I think he's a player who floats. He's probably not got that respect from the other players that sometimes maybe he can stop defending, because I think you've got to give him certain liberties and a certain freedom, that you've got players who win the ball back for him. And the players don't mind doing it if when he does get the ball 10 times, six, seven, eight times, something's going to happen. That's just not the case.

“Now he's working very hard going backwards. I think sometimes he's doing too much. He wants to help the team because he sees that he can influence the game going forward. So I think the balance in his game has been wrong, but he will only get the respect of the players when he starts influencing the game going forward. He's not there to win balls, he's there to set up goals and score goals.

“I think there were maybe a handful of games where he did that last season. And it's simply not enough. And obviously, everybody's talking about the physical side of the Premier League. Yes, it's more physical. And some of the best players took some time to adapt. I think [Juan Sebastian] Veron came lauded as the best midfield player. I think he lasted one season and went back to Italy. So some just can't do it or don't want to do it.

“And obviously, the longer it goes on now, because I said the first two or three months, give him time. I said he's too good to fail. But once it went past Christmas, I said, I don't think he's going to crack it anymore because it's too long now. Because expectations are not getting any less.

“I think if he doesn't start playing well, he came off again in the first game after 60 minutes. I think if he doesn't start influencing games in the next three or four weeks, I think by the time we have that international break, which is longer this year, I think we have a lot of paper talk, a lot of discussions, whether the club should have bought him, which is obviously too late because he's there. And maybe him thinking, ‘well, maybe this is not for me’.

“I think something will happen because for a player of that magnitude, of that stature, the amount of money he costs, it's simply not enough. You've got to find a solution somehow, maybe even in winter, if things don't get better.”

No.10 or wide forward: What is Wirtz's best position?

Wirtz has triggered strong debate over where he is best used, with it still uncertain whether he is most effective as a creative No.10 or as a forward who would produce more from the left while drifting infield.

Giving his view on that debate, Hamann - who won the Champions League during his spell at Anfield - said: “I know everybody said how well he does in training and all this. And there does come a point, and I think the point was last year after Christmas, where somebody should have said, ‘listen lad, either you do it or in the summer, we see what's happening in the World Cup, maybe we've got to find a solution’. Because they can't wait forever.

“He was bought to be the main man. And I wouldn't blame it on the position that he plays on the left. I think a year earlier, I said in the summer he sees him as a number 10. But if you've got a number 10 who doesn't create the chances or doesn't score enough goals, then obviously somebody else has to play - especially with [Bradley] Barcola coming in. It's a tricky situation for players in England.”

Liverpool 2026-27: Two points taken from opening games

Wirtz remains under a long-term contract at Liverpool until 2030. Even so, he will need to improve quickly - and add more end product to his game - if he is to ensure that deal runs its course.

The Reds, now led by Spanish coach Andoni Iraola, have drawn 2-2 with Newcastle and Nottingham Forest in their first two matches of the 2026-27 season. They return to action on Friday with an away trip to newly-promoted Ipswich.