Florian Wirtz has made an impressive start to his Liverpool career, exceeding even Arne Slot’s high expectations.
The summer signing from Bayer Leverkusen made his competitive debut for the Reds last weekend in the FA Community Shield against Crystal Palace, following an outstanding pre-season.
Wirtz set up Hugo Ekitike’s fourth-minute opener at Wembley, and Slot believes the German is adapting well both on and off the pitch.
The head coach said at a press conference today: “We have a very good player-care department, so I’m not looking for houses together with him or these kind of things.
“But on the pitch and on the training ground and in videos, he needs help for him to understand the way we want to play – that’s not 180 degrees different than Xabi Alonso.
“The system is different but we want to be intense, Xabi Alonso wanted to be intense. He liked to dominate possession, Xabi tried to bring him in positions we want to try to bring him in, so a lot of things are the same for him.
“But it’s true he has to adjust to England, to the league, to the intensity and to his new teammates as well.
“But I think if you saw the games, his adjustment went quite well – better than even expected, and we already expected a lot.”
The 22-year-old was recently named Germany’s Footballer of the Year for 2025 and included in the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d’Or.
Slot continued: “He might be young but he already won a lot. Factually, we can see him as a young player but in terms of his experience that he’s already having, I don’t see him as a young player.
“He won the league in Germany, won the cup, played for his country numerous times.
“And apart from that, his mentality is maybe his biggest strength – and that says a lot because if you see him play you’re like, ‘Are you serious?’ because he’s so creative.
“But how mentally strong he is, he doesn’t get distracted at all by a transfer fee or anything else.
“I think good players always find a way to play well in good teams, and he is a good player and he plays in a good team.”
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