Florian Wirtz opens up on difficult start at Liverpool — 'I had to keep believing'

The Liverpool star has spoken about how a shortage of confidence has impacted his first few months at Anfield and he had to remind himself of previous successes at Bayer Leverkusen

Florian Wirtz has opened up on his slow start to life at Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)

Florian Wirtz revealed he had to remind himself of his previous achievements during his difficult start to life at Liverpool.

The German, who joined from Bayern Leverkusen last summer for a fee of up to £116 million ($159M), did not have an immediate impact at Liverpool. He failed to score in his first 22 appearances and failed to register a goal involvement in the Premier League until December.

But in recent months, he has found the sort of form that made him the most highly regarded talent in German soccer. Wirtz has registered five goals and two assists in his last 10 appearances, and is beginning to dominate Liverpool’s flow from open play.

In fact, no Premier League player has registered more goal involvements than Wirtz since Dec. 20, while Hugo Ekitike acknowledged the pair’s burgeoning on-field partnership after both were on target in the midweek win over Qarabag.

Finally, Wirtz feels things are finally clicking after his difficult start to life at Liverpool. eventually

“I was very excited when I came and wanted it to be like an instant success, but it didn’t come like this,” the 22-year-old told BBC Sports.

“I just had to stay strong in my mind and keep believing in myself that at one point it has to click.

“I was telling myself ‘you did so good in Germany, you can’t just forget how to play football like this here’ because it’s not completely different football.

“It was also not easy always then to have the confidence on the pitch, but I think I dealt really good with it, and also my people around me helped.”

Wirtz was on target again in midweek as Liverpool beat Qarabag

Wirtz has particularly shone in the Champions League this season, as has Liverpool. He produced two assists in a win over Eintracht Frankfurt, won a late penalty at Inter Milan, and then grabbed an excellent goal in midweek against Qarabag.

The former Leverkusen star, who was voted Bundesliga Player of the Year two seasons in a row before he left Germany, has also been helped by a more consistent run in the team. Wirtz has now started the Reds' last 11 Premier League games.

Speaking last week about Liverpool’s no.7, ex-Red Steven Gerrard said: “You're seeing him grow now and evolve.

“He is starting to blossom, but there is loads more to come. It's clear he can get to a world-class level.”