Arne Slot drops Florian Wirtz bombshell as Liverpool star takes drastic action

Arne Slot has lifted the lid on Florian Wirtz's latest attempts to help him adapt to the Premier League, with the Liverpool star still waiting for his first league goal and assist

Arne Slot has revealed Florian Wirtz's latest steps to adapt to the Premier League(Image: Getty Images)

Arne Slot has disclosed that Florian Wirtz has been following a weight-gain programme to better cope with the physical demands of the Premier League. Liverpool's head coach has expressed satisfaction with the recent performances of the German international as the Reds aim for a six-match unbeaten run when they face Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

Although Wirtz is yet to officially score in the Premier League, he played a significant role in Nordi Mukiele's own goal during the recent 1-1 draw against Sunderland, with his shot deflecting off the Black Cats player and into the net at Anfield.

The 22-year-old Wirtz, who transferred from Bayer Leverkusen for $155 million (£116M) in June, also shone in the 2-0 victory over West Ham United in late November and put on an impressive display in last week's win by the same margin against Brighton & Hove Albion.

This recent improvement marks a positive shift from Wirtz's early days at Liverpool, where he initially struggled to adjust to the physical intensity of the top flight. However, the creative midfielder, believed to have gained over 2.5 kilograms of muscle through the programme, is beginning to find his stride in England, according to Slot.

"To come back to your question, I hope I made it clear that I am talking not just about the new players (who have needed to adapt) but players in general, Florian has improved a lot," Slot stated (as per the Liverpool Echo).

"I am not talking about his ability on the ball because we could see from the start that that was top."

Florian Wirtz pictured at the AXA Training Centre after he signs for Liverpool on June 20, 2025(Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

"But I saw in one moment against Brighton where he took the ball off Dom [Szoboszlai], he dribbled and a player came to him and he pushed him away and kept on dribbling. Then he provided a cut back cross for Hugo [Ekitike] who shot over the bar.

"Later he won the duel with (Brighton's) Jan Paul van Hecke that led to the counter attack with the shot from Mo [Salah]. In those moments you see it gets easier for him. It takes a lot, a lot, a lot of effort for him to play in this intensity but he is getting used to it. That is my take.

"Both [fitness and weight work]. A lot of them have grown in kilograms, in muscle. That's one thing. And secondly, if you are only in the gym you cannot be prepared for 90 minutes of Premier League football. It is about playing those games, I would say training but we hardly ever do that, so it's playing, playing, playing.

"The only way to make these players better is by playing them. I have played players during the season when you would usually take pre-season for that. The only way to get Florian stronger, Macca (Alexis Mac Allister), Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez, is to play games.

"So yeah, it's a combination of things but definitely also about the gym work where they all get stronger."