22 hours ago
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Florian Wirtz has made a heartfelt confession following numerous supportive messages from his nearest and dearest during a difficult beginning to his Liverpool journey.
The German midfielder is still waiting for his first goal or assist in the Premier League and has faced criticism in certain quarters regarding his displays as Arne Slot's revamped team continues to find its rhythm.
Whilst the defending Premier League titleholders haven't been at their peak, they entered the concluding round of matches before the October international window sitting proudly at the summit. Nevertheless, they've also endured intense examination following consecutive losses to Crystal Palace and Galatasaray.
The Merseysiders will be eager to respond when they travel to Chelsea on Saturday evening. Prior to the fixture, Sky Sports unveiled an exclusive feature film with Wirtz as the German viewed various clips chronicling his journey thus far from his family and friends, including both his mother and father.
Following the segment, everyone who participated delivered personal words to Wirtz. Upon viewing them, the attacking midfielder confessed to feeling moved.
"It's special and will always be special when you hear so many great things about yourself from people who you admire and respect so much and share so many good moments with them," he remarked. "It's good to hear.
"You feel directly that your heart is working, it's nice to hear. Yeah, (I felt emotional). Especially in the end for the personal messages.
"It was really nice and I was surprised who made it into the video. But all of them have to be there because these are all people who I shared a lot of great memories with.
"These are people who I will never forget so I'm really grateful."
Wirtz's mum, Karin, expressed her hopes for his English language development, whilst his dad, Hans, revealed his desire for his son to build strong relationships with everyone at Liverpool.
"I know it's sometimes difficult for him to understand the English language at the speed it's spoken," Karin said. "So my wish for him is that he soon understands everyone he speaks to well and always has the appropriate answer ready."
Meanwhile, Hans said: "I can only wish and hope that he works well there, tries hard to learn a lot, and further strengthens the joy among the people there and has a good dialogue with team-mates, the people and the fans in Liverpool."
Wirtz's longest-standing childhood mate, Ole Verhall, also featured in the piece and delivered an emotional message expressing his pride in the German.
"I'm really, really proud of you. I hope you know that," he said. "I miss you and I'm really excited to see you again in maybe a few weeks. See you, bro."
Additionally, Wirtz's former school team manager and one of his FC Koln youth coaches both offered their best wishes for his time at Liverpool. "Florian, I wish you all the best in Liverpool," expressed his former school coach, Roland Schweikardt.
"I am very sure you will make a great job there. I watch every game. Do the best!".
In addition, his previous FC Koln coach, Markus Daun, conveyed: "I want to give you big hugs to Liverpool. I wish you the maximum of success in your career in Liverpool.
"I will be there, hopefully in the next few weeks. The boss always remains the same, you know that. Take care and regards to everyone."
Martin Heck, another one of his FC Koln youth coaches, also participated in the feature as he sent an uplifting message to Wirtz.
"Please stay healthy, stay as you are," Heck advised. "You're doing a great job and keep your smiling and your cheeky way on the pitch and no-one can stop you!".
Simon Rolfes, Bayer Leverkusen's managing director of sport, echoed such sentiments after selling Wirtz to Liverpool in an £116m deal this summer.
"Florian, stay as you are, with this joy to play football every day, with this hunger to win, this hunger to work hard as well and play how you express yourself on the pitch," he encouraged. "That's a great joy for everybody."
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