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, he can barely see a way back at all.
"I really find it hard to see how this can still turn around," said the former Premier League defender on All Out Football's In The Mixer podcast, delivering a blunt verdict on the 23-year-old’s situation at Anfield.
Huth is not sniping from the sidelines without context. He knows this league. Three hundred and twenty-two Premier League appearances, a title with Leicester City in 2016, 19 caps for Germany, a home World Cup in 2006 – his words carry weight. And his concern is clear: the Premier League might simply be too much for Wirtz’s body.
"Although he is obviously a good player," Huth warned, the physical demands in England could be a step too far. "He has real problems with his physicality," the 42-year-old argued, questioning whether Wirtz can cope with the relentless intensity that defines the division.
Liverpool have staked a huge bet that he can. They paid a base fee of 125 million euros to Bayer Leverkusen in 2025 to bring the playmaker to Merseyside, a statement signing meant to anchor a new era in attack. The first season did not match the billing. There were flashes, the occasional reminder of why Europe’s elite chased him, but not the sustained influence that such a fee demands.
Now a new coach, Andoni Iraola, has been tasked with unlocking the player Liverpool thought they were buying. Year two is supposed to be different. This is the campaign that should bring the definitive breakthrough, the moment Wirtz bends the Premier League to his rhythm instead of the other way round.
Wirtz insists that process is already underway.
"I would say that I have developed in almost every area. Definitely when it comes to my physical level," he told RTL and Sky recently, pushing back at Huth and other critics. He painted a picture of a daily grind at Liverpool that is forcing him to grow.
"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.
The message from the player is one of progression, adaptation, belief. The message from Huth is very different.
He watched Liverpool’s opening Premier League game of the new season, a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United, and saw more cause for alarm than optimism. Not just in Wirtz’s duels or his influence on the ball, but in the way he carried himself.
"His body language is also a bit poor," Huth said, unimpressed with the playmaker’s demeanour on the pitch. For him, this is not a small detail. It is another sign that the situation is drifting.
The former centre-back does not expect a dramatic turnaround in form or presence any time soon. In fact, he went as far as to question whether Wirtz will even be given the full season to prove himself.
"By Christmas they will probably look to move him on if he does not improve, because he has become an expensive problem for Liverpool," Huth claimed.
That is the stark reality of elite football laid bare. A 125-million-euro signing, a manager trying to reshape a side, a player convinced he is evolving, and a former champion who believes the clock is already ticking towards an exit.
The next few months will decide who is right.
