Florian Wirtz's Struggles at Liverpool: Robert Huth's Concerns
Robert Huth doesn’t see a fairytale second act coming for Florian Wirtz at Liverpool. In fact, the former Premier League defender fears the story might be over before it ever really starts.
“I really find it hard to see how this can still turn around,” Huth said on All Out Football’s In The Mixer podcast, laying bare his doubts about the 23-year-old’s future at Anfield. When someone who has lived 322 Premier League games and lifted the title with Leicester City talks about the league’s demands, people tend to listen.
A €125m gamble under scrutiny
Liverpool did not tiptoe into the Wirtz era. They paid a hefty base fee of 125 million euros to Bayer Leverkusen in 2025, a statement signing for a club that rarely spends carelessly. The expectation was clear: a creative hub for the next decade, a player to light up Anfield.
The first season never quite matched the billing. There were flashes – moments that hinted at why Liverpool pushed so hard to bring him from Germany – but not the sustained influence that normally comes with that kind of fee. Now, under new coach Andoni Iraola, the plan is simple: year two has to be different. It has to be the breakthrough.
Huth is far from convinced.
Although he called Wirtz “obviously a good player”, the 42-year-old questioned whether the Premier League’s intensity might simply be too much for him physically. “He has real problems with his physicality,” said Huth, who knows all about the demands after winning 19 caps for Germany and playing at the 2006 World Cup on home soil.
The concern isn’t just about strength in duels or stamina over 90 minutes. For Huth, it’s about whether Wirtz can handle the relentless tempo and contact that define English football.
Wirtz hits back
Wirtz, for his part, rejects the idea that he is being overrun by the league.
“I would say that I have developed in almost every area. Definitely when it comes to my physical level,” he told RTL and Sky recently, pushing back against Huth’s verdict and similar criticism. He painted a picture of a player embracing the grind rather than shrinking from it.
“Even in training, I have to push myself almost to my limits every day, simply because there are players here who are also fully committed in training every day and have that kind of quality. You also have to be at a good level yourself,” the Germany international explained.
It is the response of a player who believes he is adapting, who sees the daily battles at the training ground as proof he is moving in the right direction, not evidence he is out of his depth.
A worrying first impression under Iraola
Huth’s latest concerns were sharpened by Liverpool’s opening Premier League game of the season, a 2-2 draw away at Newcastle United. On a day when Iraola’s new-look side needed authority and clarity, Wirtz left the former centre-back unimpressed.
“His body language is also a bit poor,” Huth said of the playmaker’s display at St James’ Park. For a creative midfielder, shoulders slumped or a lack of visible bite can be as damning as a misplaced pass. In a league where games often tilt on small emotional shifts, body language matters.
Huth does not see a quick turnaround coming. He spoke not like a pundit chasing headlines, but like a defender who has watched big-money signings wilt under the glare before.
By his assessment, Liverpool could soon face an uncomfortable decision.
“By Christmas they will probably look to move him on if he does not improve, because he has become an expensive problem for Liverpool,” Huth warned.
That is the starkest line of all. A player signed to be a cornerstone now being talked about as a potential short-term mistake.
The season is young. Iraola is new. Wirtz insists his body is catching up with the demands. But in a league that rarely waits for anyone, the question now is brutal and simple: does a 125-million-euro talent have enough time to prove Robert Huth wrong?
