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Let's have it right: there is a reason that Liverpool was prepared to pay up to $157 million (£116 million) to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen this summer.
There is also a reason that Wirtz was ranked 29th on the Ballon d'Or list last month — one spot above Bayern Munich's Michael Olise and one place behind new teammate Virgil van Dijk.
And yet, were you to take the temperature on Wirtz at this very early stage of his Liverpool career, you would be forgiven for thinking that the Reds had signed a complete dud who has shown no signs of his true talent.
"It could be that I’m trying to pass the ball faster," Wirtz explained to Sky Germany last week. "I recently talked to the coach about it, and he suggested why I might not be able to get into the situations I normally get into.
"That is, I’m making the game fast with a dribble or a pass. He said it could be because we press a lot, and I run a lot. For example, the running stats: I’m always at the top there because I try to push hard and do what the coach asks.
"I need a lot of strength and energy for that. When I have the ball, I might be lacking a little bit.
"That it will simply come step by step, as I play more games, get fitter, be able to do things more easily, and then, when I have the ball, be fit enough and recovered enough to push hard."
As he has essentially admitted himself there, Wirtz is still getting used to the physical demands of being a Liverpool player. But this is not the time to panic.
He almost scored against Crystal Palace and should have notched at least a couple of assists only for his teammates' poor finishing to prevent him from doing so.
"Right now, I don’t think the balance of the team is right and the obvious one that stands out is Wirtz. He’s just not at the races at all," Jamie Carragher said on CBS Sports this week.
"He’s a young boy coming into a new league and he’s got plenty of time to go as a Liverpool player, but right now I think he needs to come out of the team."
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Wirtz has not stood out so far in a positive sense, but the fixtures that Liverpool has played must also come into the equation.
The only games in which he should have been able to make much more of an impact were Burnley and Everton, with Slot putting him on the bench for the latter.
Bournemouth was end-to-end and Arsenal and Newcastle United were incredibly intense. Against Crystal Palace, Slot tried a 4-2-2-2 formation with Wirtz essentially given a free role, but it fell flat.
That wasn't really Wirtz's fault, though. He is never going to be best stationed out wide on the left and when he came inside, he simply got in the way of Mohamed Salah, who was also far too narrow, which made it easy for Oliver Glasner's back three.
"He’s had a very disappointing start to his Liverpool career," Didi Hamann said. The German suggested that Wirtz is not only underperforming, but also taking chances away from Salah, but that doesn't necessarily tell the full story.
Whoever Liverpool had played in its opening few matches, it would be too early to start criticizing Wirtz when we have only just entered October. In the full context, though, it is even more unfair.
The numbers can sometimes be made out to fit whatever narrative you like — and when you come in for such a big fee, people are instinctively going to want to get on your back — but Wirtz is creating chances.
Indeed, the much-praised Jack Grealish has created 21 in all competitions so far this season — the same number as Wirtz. No one else has created more, with Bryan Mbeumo (18), Bruno Fernandes (17) next up, and five players on 16.
When Salah's form picks up and Alexander Isak is fully fit and firing, that will be the time to properly assess Wirtz's impact.
Liverpool knew all along, after such a big turnover of players this summer, that it was going to take time. In the meantime, it remains top of the Premier League regardless
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