Wirtz keeps sinking at Liverpool as Carragher demands he be dropped

Bradley Barcola throwing his arms up in resignation, Ryan Gravenberch turning away with a sigh, Milos Kerkez punching the air in frustration. The sequence, shared millions of times on social media, sums up in a few seconds exactly what is happening to Florian Wirtz at Liverpool. The off-target shot that triggered those reactions was nothing extraordinary, the kind of thing you see in any top-level match. But in this case it became the symbol of a problem that can no longer be hidden.

The context does not help. It happened during the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday, and Wirtz once again went unnoticed. So unnoticed, in fact, that he was Andoni Iraola's first substitution as the team desperately searched for a spark following Gravenberch's red card midway through the second half. The fact that the manager chose to pull him, the player Liverpool paid an initial £100 million for barely 16 months ago, says plenty about where the German stands today.

Jamie Carragher held nothing back on Sky Sports after the match:

I think he has to come out of the team. I said it last time and I'll say it again. Liverpool played well for large parts of the game before Gravenberch's red card, but they didn't create a single chance... and that's what you bought Wirtz for. He gives you nothing defensively, and he gives you nothing going forward.Jamie Carragher

Carragher's assessment lines up with what fans and analysts have been thinking, but Wirtz's struggles appear to be just the tip of a much bigger iceberg. Over the last two summer transfer windows, Liverpool's net spend reached £480 million. Three players signed in that span, Wirtz, Barcola and Alexander Isak, cost £100 million or more, and all three are now under scrutiny at Anfield.

From the golden era to spending that won't pay off

It's hard to believe this is the same club that got almost every market call right between 2015 and 2020: Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson, Fabinho. That generation built Jurgen Klopp's title-winning Liverpool side. Since 2020 the track record has been far more uneven: there have been hits like Diogo Jota, Ibrahima Konate and Alexis Mac Allister, but also disappointments like Darwin Nunez, who never quite justified his £64 million price tag, or Federico Chiesa, who has yet to recapture his best form since arriving in 2024.

Add to that the instability in the sporting director's office: Liverpool have had four different sporting directors since 2022, with Julian Ward taking over the role for a second time following Richard Hughes' departure last month. Recouping money through player sales, something the club used to excel at, has also become a struggle: they lost Konate and Salah as free agents, Real Madrid picked up Trent Alexander-Arnold for just £10 million, and Curtis Jones left for Inter Milan for only £30 million.

Wirtz, caught between promise and reality

When Liverpool beat out Manchester City and Bayern Munich to sign him in June 2025, nothing suggested Wirtz would fail to succeed. He arrived off the back of being the standout player for an unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen side in the 2023-24 Bundesliga. The reality has turned out differently: seven goals and 10 assists in 56 appearances. His last goal for Liverpool came against Crystal Palace in April, and so far this season he has just two assists in eight appearances. It doesn't help that Rayan Cherki, who was also linked with Liverpool before joining Manchester City for £34 million (less than a third of what was paid for Wirtz), is performing far better.

Klopp stepped in to defend him after calling him up to the German national team last month:

Attacking players always need a team that functions well around them. And anyone who loves football can still see how extraordinary a player Florian Wirtz is.Jurgen Klopp

But not even a strong showing for Germany in the 2-0 win over Serbia carried over into anything similar against City. There's a marked gap between his level in the Champions League, where his technical quality still shines through (against LASK he set up Barcola and completed 50 of 58 passes), and his output in the Premier League, which is far more physical and demanding.

Wirtz isn't the only one under the microscope. Isak, a £125 million signing, started the season well but a thigh injury kept him out against City; he already has four goals in the Premier League, more than he managed in all of last season, though that counts for little if injuries keep ruling him out of the big games. Kerkez has improved from his shaky start but remains far from the level Robertson hit at his peak, and Jeremie Frimpong has failed to convince either as a fullback or as a winger.

Even so, Liverpool doubled down this summer by bringing in Barcola from PSG for £106 million. He was largely anonymous against City, but on Wednesday he scored his first professional hat-trick against LASK in the Champions League. The quality of the opposition is debatable, but it was an encouraging sign.

With a squad averaging 25.2 years of age, there is awareness within Liverpool that these signings won't pay off overnight. In the meantime, the lack of options on the bench against City made clear the risk of pouring so much money into so few names instead of spreading resources more evenly. Injuries to Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai hurt the team on Sunday, but even at full strength, Liverpool still lack the depth of City or Arsenal. With the Iraola era still searching for liftoff, getting the stars to start repaying their price tags is no longer a minor detail for the rest of the season.