I heard what Florian Wirtz said and I'm even more worried about Mohamed Salah's exit now

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Florian Wirtz is looking more and more at home in a Liverpool shirt, but his comments during the international break do paint a slightly worrying picture ahead of Mohamed Salah's exit

Florian Wirtz's comments have underlined how difficult it will be for Liverpool to replace Mohamed Salah(Image: Getty Images)

Adapting to the Premier League has been a long learning process for Florian Wirtz - but the German star looks to be finding his feet now at Liverpool.

A record-breaking move totaling around $153 million was always going to bring with it high expectations, not to mention all of his eye-catching displays back at Bayer Leverkusen, and when there were still no Premier League goals or assists in those first few months, eyebrows were inevitably being raised elsewhere.

Liverpool persisted though. The club wouldn’t have dropped so much money on Wirtz had it not been so confident about his ability to adapt to his new surroundings, and the fruits of that labor are starting to show now.

After that lean start, Wirtz now has four goals and three assists to his name in the league, and it could have been more had some of his teammates been a little more clinical.

The 22-year-old looks to be finding his stride now, aided by a programme designed to bulk him up. Not only has that improved his fortunes in the Premier League, but it also looks to be paying dividends for his country, having impressed during the international break in wins for Germany over Switzerland - in which he was involved in all four goals - and Ghana.

Opening up on his transition to the Premier League, WIrtz told German television show Sportschau: "It [the first few months at Liverpool] wasn't an easy phase.

Florian Wirtz has needed time to adjust to life at Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)

"It's sometimes good that things don't always go upwards and that you experience a dip and grow stronger because of it.

"That's how I see it now as well - it has made me a bit stronger. I had to overcome resistance and adapt. I had to learn to become stronger and hold onto the ball."

As encouraging as that is to hear from Wirtz, it does leave me a little more worried ahead of what will be another big summer for Liverpool.

Although it’s unlikely we’ll see the sort of spending spree we saw last summer, the Reds will have at least one big job on their hands as they try to replace Mohamed Salah. But how on earth do you do that?

It’s a hard enough job to replicate what Liverpool’s third-highest goalscorer of all time brought, and when someone as good as Wirtz has struggled to adjust, it suggests it’s going to be even more difficult for Salah’s eventual replacement.

Whoever that is, fans are going to have to adjust their expectations. If it ends up being someone as exciting as Yan Diomande or Bradley Barcola, they’re going to need time like Wirtz.

Such is the clamor for instant success though, especially after such a disappointing season this time around, there might not be too much room for patience with some.

This is a huge decision Liverpool and FSG to make. Regardless of who eventually fills Salah’s shoes, Wirtz’s start at Anfield shows it might not be the smoothest of transitions.