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Jamie Redknapp has suggested Florian Wirtz could go on to become the next Luka Modric for Liverpool - although Jamie Carragher insists he needs to improve quickly if he is to make it in the Premier League.
Having made a record-breaking move from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, Wirtz has had a tough start to life on Merseyside. He still has just one assist to his name for Liverpool, and has failed to add a goal contribution since the Community Shield back in August.
He was named on the bench for the second consecutive game on Sunday, having just returned from an underwhelming international break with Germany, with Liverpool going on to lose its fourth game in a row against Manchester United to continue what has been a worrying run of form.
Wirtz was called upon in the second half, and did look to be one of the brighter performers in another poor Liverpool display, but questions still remain over his place in the side, and how Arne Slot can get the best out of him.
Voicing his own concerns about Wirtz, Carragher told Sky Sports after the 2-1 defeat: “How long do you give foreign players when they first come to the league? You don’t write the first year off but you say the second year they’ll improve and get better.
“But, if I’m being honest, if I think of the great foreign signings - Sami Hyppia, Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Luis Suarez, Didi Hamann - they all hit the ground running.
“I can’t think of many, who had an average, poor start - I’m not talking seven games by the way but if you’re getting to Christmas and January and being like ‘oh’. History doesn’t tell me that foreign signings coming into England take a year.”
Carragher added: “People always say Thierry Henry and that’s nonsense, he scored 25 goals in his first year at Arsenal.”
Redknapp then interjected to point out Henry didn’t score in his first eight games with the Gunners, to which Carragher responded: “Exactly. What I’m saying is it wasn’t a year. Seven or eight games is too early [to judge] but once we get to January, February, March when is the time we can start saying ‘maybe this was a mistake?’
“Especially at Liverpool, players who are great foreign signings for the club hit the ground running.”
Despite Carragher’s concerns, Redknapp is in no doubt about Wirtz, and believes he could follow in the footsteps of the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner.
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“I’m not sure if he is going to be that person that will always be sliding balls through, he might be at times like a Luka Modric,” Redknapp said.
“Now Luka Modric, if you judged him purely on goals and assists, you’d maybe think he wouldn’t be the player we all talk about, but he would be the player that would make the pass that makes the pass. Now that might be Florian Wirtz.”
Redknapp added: “The intensity of this league, especially for some like him, it’s so robust, and he might just be finding it that bit more difficult than what we all expected, he might have to go on a little bit of strength and conditioning situation for a few months and get him even stronger.
“But I’ve got no doubt, because I’ve seen players like that in the Premier League, and I’ve seen them in Germany, he will be a success here.”
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