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Glen Johnson says Florian Wirtz can be another Philippe Coutinho for Liverpool — but only if he quickens up his play.
The former Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder has impressed in spells so far at Anfield, but is yet to fully ignite after a transfer move that could eventually be worth a total of $157 million (£116 million). Wirtz is still getting used to the speed of the English game and making connections with his new teammates, and Jamie Carragher has called for him to be dropped for the trip to Chelsea.
But Johnson is not worried about Wirtz in the long term. He believes that the player has all the tools to shine under Arne Slot. He is, after all, only six games into his Premier League career.
"I think we’ve already seen moments from him in games where he’s looked world-class," Johnson said. "You can tell from the way he angles himself, and the positions he’s taking up on the pitch.
"I think not every player can pick out what he’s doing just now, and once he settles in and his teammates learn what he’s doing, he’ll be world-class. But at some point, there needs to be an end product more often than right now.
"For Florian, I think that he might need to realise that he can be on the ball less than he is now, but when he does have it, he needs to be more effective and ruthless. But we’ve already seen with some of his touches and passes that he can be world-class."
Wirtz scored 16 goals and laid on another 15 for his teammates last season. The year before, he was Leverkusen's main man as it won the Bundesliga title under Xabi Alonso.
"I can see some similarities between Wirtz and Coutinho, but Phil had the end product reliably," Johnson, speaking to 10Bet, continued. "He was short and sharp, and something would happen when he picked up the ball.
"I think Wirtz has that in him, too, but he needs to sharpen up his brain before he receives the ball so he can act quicker. There’s no point just receiving the ball and making a nice little pass sideways. Anyone can do that.
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"Coutinho at Anfield, he always had that cutting edge more than Wirtz does right now. But look, he’s come with huge pressure on him, and there’s a lot of boxes he needs to tick.
"I think that’s going to take some time, while he settles, just like it is with Trent Alexander-Arnold at Real Madrid. It’s normal for players."
Liverpool.com says: Wirtz is too good for it not to work out for him at some point. He's been really close to getting a couple of assists and goals so far, and had his teammates been more clinical, the narrative would be very different.
It was always going to take time for the new Liverpool team to gel. Once Alexander Isak gets up to speed fitness-wise and Mohamed Salah is back in form, Wirtz could look very different.
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