Liverpool will have to be patient to see the best of Wirtz
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It's three months since Liverpool sealed a deal worth up to £116 million to make Florian Wirtz their new game-changer, but they may need to wait another year at least to start seeing a return on their investment.
Seven games into his Liverpool career, Wirtz is struggling to make his mark, and he certainly wouldn't have expected to experience his first Merseyside derby by watching it from the sidelines as a substitute.
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But thanks to a combination of Liverpool's significant summer overhaul, the breakneck speed of the Premier League and the vast array of attacking talent in Arne Slot's squad, Wirtz has looked as though he spent an hour inside a washing machine whenever he has walked off the pitch.
So far, Wirtz has failed to score or create a goal in a competitive game for Liverpool.
And without him, Liverpool won again.
Florian Wirtz shows his frustration during last week's Champions League victory against Atlético Madrid. Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Will the Germany international eventually come good in a Liverpool shirt?
United believed that the Bundesliga's slower pace and less congested fixture list meant that the majority of players are unprepared for the whirlwind of games and physicality that they immediately encountered in the Premier League -- something Wirtz has struggled with to date.
"If you bring in, as we do, very, very good players, so, so talented but from different leagues and young -- Florian is 22 and 23 Hugo [Ekitike] -- I think it is normal.
If you are not 27 or 28 you maybe need to make a step towards the Premier League and that's what these two are doing," Slot said earlier this month.
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Bayern would have enabled Wirtz to form a devastating partnership with Harry Kane in a league he had already grown to dominate during his time at Leverkusen.
It is easy to see Wirtz slotting into both teams and enjoying a much easier transition, but he chose Liverpool because of the lure of Anfield and also the club's vision of him becoming the centrepiece of the team's attacking machine for years to come.
But such has been the churn of ins and outs at Anfield this summer -- six major new arrivals, six first-team departures, plus the tragic loss of Diogo Jota -- that Slot's new team is still moulding together.
Hugo Ekitike has made an incredible start with four goals in seven games since his £79 million transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt, but Milos Kerkez has been inconsistent at left-back, Jeremie Frimpong has been hampered by injury and Alexander Isak is still finding fitness after arriving on deadline day from Newcastle, having barely trained properly all summer.
Wirtz has been perhaps the most disappointing arrival so far, but the performances of established players including Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Virgil van Dijk have helped propel Liverpool to a 100% start in all competitions, meaning Wirtz has largely escaped the spotlight of scrutiny.
Florian Wirtz suffered with extreme cramp during the victory against Arsenal. Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
But while it has become easy for coaches to say a player has been "rested" or "rotated" after being omitted for a game, the reality is that Wirtz was dropped for Saturday's derby win because Slot needed 11 players who he knew could handle the physical demands of the fixture.
Slot spoke of rotating his squad because Liverpool are in the midst of an "intense" period of fixtures, with Wirtz dropping out against Everton because of that.
It's also about Slot having to work out the best way to use a player who scored 12 goals and registered 22 assists for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga last season, largely in a more advanced role.
Wirtz has been unable to play further forward because Ekitike, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo have been delivering in the attacking positions and unlike Leverkusen, Liverpool don't rely on Wirtz to make things happen in the final third.
Perhaps when Salah vacates the stage and Liverpool need a new talisman, Wirtz will step up