Florian Wirtz intervention timely as lid lifted on private Liverpool talks

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Echo or go back to LFC Live.

The slaloming run that ended with an equaliser when the Reds most needed it against Sunderland on Wednesday evening came with an asterisk that marked it down, officially, as an own goal via Nordi Mukiele.That's sort of how it's been for Wirtz so far during his fledgling career with the Premier League champions; even when he is bold and decisive, it is not reflected in the bricks and mortar of football metrics.The official statistics, then, will tell us that the German has yet to open his account for Liverpool following his £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen in June.READ MORE: Virgil van Dijk shares Mohamed Salah reaction to Liverpool dropping and makes pointREAD MORE: National media make brutal Liverpool transfer point as Arne Slot 'spared' - 'This is a team'But his intervention at the Kop end was a timely one for Arne Slot and further evidence - regardless of what the numbers say in black and white - of a player continuing to find his feet after an encouraging few days.Virgil van Dijk suggested on Sunday that Wirtz's performance at Eintracht Frankfurt, when the Reds won 5-1, was possibly his best for the club, but there was little pushback on the claim that the Germany international turned in his finest league display in the 2-0 victory over West Ham United.Wirtz was bright and inventive and always carried a threat with his elegant style and intelligent passing. A 'pre-assist', if you prefer your analytics with a bit more of a modern twist.It was the sort of thing the 22-year-old was signed at great cost to do; to play dangerous balls into the frontmen to do the damage and it capped off a fine afternoon's work in the capital.The Reds may have failed to build on that victory by drawing with Sunderland but it was instructive that it was Wirtz carrying the fight to the Black Cats at a time when the hosts looked bereft of confidence and ideas in the final third.“The fans were there for us so [I am] a bit disappointed but also a bit proud that we came back like this after a setback," was the No.7's take after the game.

We just had to be patient and to keep the pressure on, or even more than the first half.“That’s what we tried and then the 1-0 was a bit unlucky – I think we could have won the duel before and then also the deflection was a bit unlucky."The hope is that despite the goal being chalked down as Mukiele's, the piece of play can act as a springboard to the sort of level Wirtz displayed at Leverkusen, when he was the star of a team that won a historic first Bundesliga title in 2024 alongside the German Cup before falling at the final furlong in the Europa League showpiece to Atalanta.Such was Wirtz's performance last time out as Xabi Alonso's final campaign at the BayArena ended with a runners-up spot, that the attacking midfielder won the Bundesliga player of the year award.And if his time on Merseyside has been characterised by anything so far, it has been the slew of high-profile figures in German football, including Jurgen Klopp, who have queued up to inform us of the special talent that is now in Liverpool's midst.At times, though, it has looked like the speed and intensity has been too much for someone weighed down by the size of a price tag that made him a club-record capture at an initial £100m back in June.Captain Van Dijk, himself a £75m addition from Southampton in January 2018, reveals he spoke to his team-mate about how to handle the demands at a club like the Reds when financial records have been broken to bring you to the club.“In the beginning [we spoke], but that's normal," Van Dijk says. He is still such a young, talented boy who came to the club for a lot of money but he didn't pay that money, he's part of the bigger picture of trying to be a success here."Van Dijk remembers those early days well but the idea that Liverpool overpaid to land the Netherlands skipper from Southampton was quickly banished by what he was able to do on the pitch.The centre-back's capture took a porous Jurgen Klopp side from pretenders to contenders almost instantly, ending his first few months on Merseyside with a Champions League runners-up medal in 2018.A year later that silver was turned to gold as the Reds won a sixth European Cup in 2019 before ending a 30-year wait for a league title 12 months after that.Van Dijk, then, is almost uniquely positioned to offer Wirtz some sage advice on how to settle when you are the big-money purchase at a club he considers to be the world's biggest.He says: “They could say whatever they wanted to me [when I signed] but it's about getting going.

He needs us in our best shape and we need him in our best shape and that's what we're trying to find."He adds: “There's a very good reason why a club like us bought him: he's an outstanding, world-class player in my eyes who can only become even better but it will take a bit of time."For him he has to stay level-headed, don't get too high, don't get too low. Don't get dragged into the outside world when it's very good or very bad and don't get dragged into the numbers game."Nowadays there are a lot of eyes on if you score goals or have an assist or keep clean sheets but it is also about what you see and the contribution you have for the team, that's not just shown in the numbers but in what you see and that should sometimes be the focus."