The three issues that German outlet SportBILD lays at Wirtz’s door are tactical, political and structural, in that order. According to the paper’s investigation by Axel Hesse, picked up by Sport Witness, Liverpool’s traditional “dynamism and robustness” leave a classical number 10 without space, Mohamed Salah’s “selfishness” has blunted the £116m signing’s influence, and the 2025 squad overhaul swallowed what should have been his adjustment period.
The most pointed line in the SportBILD piece is not about tactics at all. The paper argues Wirtz has been dragged into what it calls an “internal power struggle” between Liverpool’s leading men for tactical prominence, and that the dressing-room veterans were never going to roll out the red carpet for a playmaker arriving to take the reins.
‘Internal power struggle’ at Anfield
Hesse writes that Wirtz was ill-prepared for the political side of life at Anfield and has struggled with simply not being sought out on the pitch. Salah, the paper claims, has “overlooked” him and failed to make the other summer signings shine either.
The numbers back the mood. Wirtz has started the 2026/27 Premier League season with 0 goals and 1 assist in six appearances, totalling 494 minutes. Across all competitions since arriving from Bayer Leverkusen, TEAMtalk reports, he has 7 goals and 11 assists in 55 Liverpool matches, a modest return for the club-record outlay of £100m plus up to £16m in add-ons.
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Bayern close the door
Any lingering fantasy of a straight-swap back to Munich took a knock this week. Bayern supervisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was asked by German daily Abendzeitung about reviving the club’s 2025 interest and batted it away.
“First of all, that’s not my job. It’s a matter for the Executive Board,” Rummenigge said.
“And we mustn’t forget, Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry already play in that position, plus there are other options like Ismael Saibari. There’s no need to buy a fourth player for the money Wirtz would likely cost.”
Rummenigge did concede, when pushed, that he is surprised by how badly things have gone on Merseyside. That matters: Bayern tried hard for Wirtz in 2025 before Arne Slot, then Liverpool’s head coach, convinced him that the number 10 shirt and role were his.
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Iraola’s hand on the project
Slot is gone. Liverpool are now run by Andoni Iraola, who agreed to take over in June, and the message from Anfield is that the Basque has no intention of giving up on the German yet.
TEAMtalk’s Fraser Fletcher reports that Liverpool are not entertaining an early exit, and that Iraola plans to keep handing Wirtz chances through the autumn.
“The club’s preference is clear, they want to nurture the player rather than consider an early exit,” Fletcher wrote.
Wirtz next plays at Anfield against Manchester City on Sunday 11 October, with kick-off at 4:30pm local time.
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