Thomas Muller makes Florian Wirtz point after choosing Liverpool over Bayern Munich

• Liverpool FC News
• Features
• Florian Wirtz

Florian Wirtz has fielded plenty of criticism since he joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen over the summer, but Thomas Muller thinks he could have had it much worse

Thomas Muller has given his verdict on the criticism of Florian Wirtz(Image: ©Icon Sportswire All Rights Reserved)

Thomas Muller believes Florian Wirtz would have been under even more scrutiny than he is now, had he chosen to join Bayern Munich during the summer transfer window.

Wirtz was wanted by both Bayern and Liverpool during the summer transfer window, but to many people's surprise he chose to move to Anfield.

Bayern has a reputation for hoovering up the best German talent, and his decision to choose Liverpool ruffled plenty of feathers in Bavaria. Wirtz experienced a slower start to life at Liverpool than some expected, and only scored his first goal for the club in the win over Wolves a few days ago.

Despite his lack of goals, Wirtz's general level of performance had been improving even before his goal against Wolves – but that had done little to stem the flow of criticism that he had been receiving since moving to Merseyside.

However, Wirtz's former Germany teammate Muller thanks that Wirtz would have faced far more criticism had he stayed in Germany with Bayern.

"I wouldn’t want to miss a single second of my time at Bayern," said Muller. "Nowhere else are you in the melting pot of attention as much as you are as a national player in Munich. I loved that so much, in good times and bad.

"Take Flo Wirtz, who took an international step with his move to Liverpool. At Bayern, he would certainly have had an easier time adapting to the game, as he would have remained in the same league.

Wirtz scored his first goal for Liverpool against Wolves over the weekend(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA, Getty Images)

"That’s true [that he is struggling]. But it’s nowhere near comparable to the media attention you get as a player when things aren’t going well for you at FC Bayern. You’re in the spotlight every day. As a foreigner, you’re just not talked about as much!"

Wirtz's first goal for Liverpool came in his 23rd appearance, as he collected as pass from Hugo Ekitike before stabbing the ball into the Wolves goal.

"It was very nice," Wirtz told Premier League Productions after the game. "The feeling on the pitch with the fans around [the stadium]… I was very happy and I liked it,

"I was confident that I would score one day. Of course, I wanted to start scoring and assisting earlier, but it was like this. I had to accept it, but I just knew that it would come, and I just tried to keep going like that."