- Ballack backs Wirtz to show his quality
- Germany ace yet to score for ليفربول
- Wirtz joined Liverpool from Leverkusen in summer
Wirtz is still looking for his first goal or assist for the Reds following his £100 million (€116m/$136m) move from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer. The 22-year-old featured in his new side’s opening three الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز fixtures against Bournemouth, نيوكاسل يونايتد و أرسنال as Arne Slot’s men collected maximum points before the international break.
However Ballack fully expects Wirtz to soon find his feet at Liverpool, with the former بايرن ميونيخ و تشيلسي man putting his compatriot’s early-season form down to him adjusting to being one of a number of stars at Anfield after previously being Leverkusen’s main man.
In an interview with German publication BILD, Ballack said: “There’s a lot of competition within the Liverpool team, and expectations of Florian Wirtz have increased from the outside. Or rather the expectations he has of himself. And at the beginning, it won’t be like it was in Leverkusen, where everyone plays for him and he gets almost every ball.
“That’s why it’s legitimate that he still needs to find his way around a bit. But he’s such an exceptional footballer, so I’m not worried about him. For him and his development, the move to England wasn’t a bad move.”
Wirtz did manage to find the back of the net in Germany’s 3-1 victory over أيرلندا الشمالية في كأس العالم qualifying on Sunday. Julian Nagelsmann’s side got their qualification campaign back on track having suffered a shock 2-0 defeat against Slovakia on September 4.
Wirtz is expected to start when Liverpool return to Premier League action with a trip to newly-promoted بيرنلي on Sunday. The Merseysiders will then get their دوري أبطال أوروبا campaign up and running when they entertain Atletico Madrid on September 17.
