Jurgen Klopp is right about $155M Liverpool transfer who is 'once-in-a-century talent'
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Liverpool has seen Alexander Isak look much sharper at the World Cup, which is promising, but Florian Wirtz is so far yet to offer Andoni Iraola the same encouragementLiverpool legend Jurgen Klopp is at the World Cup as a pundit for Magenta TV.(Image: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)For Alexander Isak, the World Cup was always going to be important for improving his match sharpness and his fitness, and the early signs for Liverpool have been good.The Swede has scored and assisted, and looked sharp. Even in a heavy defeat to the Netherlands this weekend, he looked like he was heading in the right direction, just as his manager, Graham Potter, had suggested ahead of the game.German playmaker Florian Wirtz, though he didn't spend last season out injured, is in a similar position.
He needed to be more decisive in key moments, and that has to come.Like with Isak, however, Wirtz is too big a talent for it not to work out at Liverpool. The Reds spent big money on him — around $155 million (£116 million) once add-ons are factored in — for a reason.Florian Wirtz during Germany vs Ivory Coast at the World Cup.(Image: Marvin Ibo Guengoer - GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)"I don't worry about Wirtz because his quality is so outstanding," Jurgen Klopp said back in October."The discussion is a bit exaggerated.
He is a once-in-a-century talent, and at some point he'll show that in every game again, as he did at Bayer Leverkusen."The months that followed those comments were difficult for Liverpool as a team.Nonetheless, in his debut campaign at Anfield, Wirtz netted seven goals and notched 10 assists, which is not a bad base from which to start.Get LFC's 2025/26 season home and away kitsThis article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn moreFrom $100LFC.comSee the dealLiverpool's home and away strips for the 2025/26 season are the first in their new partnership with adidas.Fans can order jerseys in the US at Fanatics.com or via the LFC Online Store in both the US and across the world.Next year, with proper pace and quality out wide and Isak in front of him, plus a year of experience in his new environment, those numbers should dramatically improve.It is dangerous, of course, to point to other big-money signings being required to 'unlock' the ones that already exist, but it would be fair to say that if Yan Diomande can be captured from RB Leipzig, that would make a big difference.And judging the German once the team is built around him, and his main ability, to thread through balls and create for others, can be properly assessed, is only fair.Wirtz will almost certainly improve in his second season at Liverpool, injury permitting.