Alan Shearer has admitted he is unsure whether Liverpool will ever see the best of Florian Wirtz, suggesting the intensity of the Premier League may not suit the attacking midfielder's style of play.
The former England captain and Premier League's all-time top scorer said Wirtz has only shown flashes of his talent since joining the Reds for an initial £100m in June 2025, with a further £16m due to Bayer Leverkusen in add-ons.
Difficult debut campaign
Wirtz scored seven goals and claimed eight assists last season as Liverpool lost 20 times in all competitions under Arne Slot. The Reds are unbeaten so far this season under new head coach Andoni Iraola.
Speaking to Betfair, Shearer said: "We are still yet to see the best of Florian Wirtz, we've seen it in patches. But we haven't seen him go on a run to say: 'Wow, this guy is some player and that's why they spent that huge money on him'. We've yet to see that and whether we will, we'll have to wait and see. I'm not sure. Because you don't get the time to do what you want to do on the ball at times in the Premier League because it's that gung-ho."
Klopp's Germany challenge
Wirtz scored for Germany earlier this week as Jurgen Klopp secured his first win as head coach with a 2-0 triumph over Serbia in Munich.
Shearer questioned whether Klopp can restore Germany to the top of international football, saying: "The big question Klopp has to answer taking over as Germany manager is can he bring them back to being a powerhouse in international football? Because he's coming at a time where German football isn't at its best. We've seen Germany now in the last few years and I covered them a couple of times in the World Cup and they were really poor. I don't think they're blessed with great players. They've got one or two very, very good players, but I think in terms of the numbers, I'd be surprised if he was to get them back to the top level in competing for Euros and for World Cups. I don't see that happening for a while because I don't think that they have the talent at the minute for them to achieve that, despite how great he is as a manager."
