Jurgen Klopp has said Liverpool signing Florian Wirtz will make his critics ‘eat their words’ at Anfield.
Wirtz has struggled to make an impact since joining Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer for a then-British record fee of £116m.
The German midfielder is yet to score or assist for the Reds in his first 10 appearances. Wirtz was left out of the starting side for the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday, before being introduced from the bench.
The 22-year-old arrived in the Premier League with a fine reputation, after winning the Bundesliga’s Player of the Year award in successive seasons.
Former Liverpool manager Klopp is in no doubt his countryman will succeed at Anfield. Discussing his difficult start with Steven Bartlett on The Diary of a CEO podcast, Klopp said: “You all will eat your words if you use the wrong words with Florian Wirtz. He’s an incredible talent.”
It’s the second time in recent weeks that Klopp has defended Wirtz. Earlier this month, he backed Wirtz as ‘a once-in-a-century talent’.
“His [Wirtz’s] quality is so outstanding. The discussions are a bit exaggerated,” Klopp told Sport.de.
“Liverpool just lost three games in a row, which is unusual. But that’s also normal in life. And that’s why such things are discussed there.
“Now I’ve been in the middle of such discussions long enough and can say: nothing could interest people there less than the public discussions.
“[Wirtz is] a once-in-a-century talent, and at some point, he’ll show that in every game again, just as he did at Leverkusen.”
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