Wirtz’s slow start at Liverpool defended by Klopp, Nagelsmann

Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann and former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp have both put their weight behind Florian Wirtz after the German footballer made a slow start to his Premier League season for Liverpool.

Wirtz joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in a then-club record £116 million ($154m) deal in the summer but he hasn’t been able to hit the ground running.

Liverpool suffered a 2-1 loss against Chelsea before the International break, and Wirtz was dropped to the bench. The attacking midfielder is yet to find the back of the net after playing seven matches for Liverpool.

Nagelsmann told Sport 1: “Even though he hasn’t scored any goals, he is still the player who creates the most chances in the Premier League.

“It’s not his fault if his team-mates don’t convert them, and the statistics don’t even tell the whole story.

“Wirtz needs to get used to the league. I saw him playing with total freedom. He knows what he’s capable of and how things work.

“He hasn’t always had it easy — he’ll have to work hard now too.”

On the other hand, former Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp concurred with Nagelsmann and said the German midfielder is a once-in-a-century talent.

He told n-tv: “His quality is so outstanding, the discussions are a bit exaggerated.

“Liverpool just lost three games in a row, which is unusual.

“But that’s also normal in life and that’s why such things are discussed there.

“[Wirtz is] a once-in-a-century talent, and at some point he’ll show that in every game again — just as he did at Leverkusen.”

Wirtz had scored 10 goals and provided 11 assists in the previous season of the Bundesliga for Bayern Leverkusen.