Florian Wirtz's Struggles at Liverpool: Robert Huth's Concerns

Robert Huth does not see a happy ending coming for Florian Wirtz at Liverpool.

"I really find it hard to see how this can still turn around," said the former Premier League defender on All Out Football's podcast In The Mixer, laying out a bleak prognosis for the 23-year-old’s Anfield future.

Huth, who knows the league as well as anyone after 322 Premier League appearances and a title win with Leicester City in 2016, accepts Wirtz is "obviously a good player". But he believes the jump from the Bundesliga to England has exposed a flaw that could define the German’s time at Liverpool.

"He has real problems with his physicality," said the 42-year-old, who won 19 caps for Germany and featured at the 2006 World Cup on home soil. In Huth’s eyes, the Premier League may simply be a step too far for Wirtz’s body.

Liverpool certainly paid as if he was ready. In 2025, the club sent a base fee of 125 million euros to Bayer Leverkusen to bring the playmaker to England. His first season at Anfield never fully caught fire. There were flashes, clever touches, moments where his vision shone through, but nothing sustained enough to justify that kind of outlay or the hype that followed him from Germany.

Now the reset button has been pressed. Under new head coach Andoni Iraola, Liverpool expect year two to be different – sharper, stronger, more decisive. This is supposed to be the season of his definitive breakthrough.

Wirtz insists he is heading in that direction.

Asked recently about his development in an interview with RTL and Sky, the Germany international pushed back against the criticism, including Huth’s. "I would say that I have developed in almost every area. Definitely when it comes to my physical level," he said.

He painted a picture of a training ground that leaves no room for passengers. "Even in training, I have to push myself almost to my limits every day, simply because there are players here who are also fully committed in training every day and have that kind of quality. You also have to be at a good level yourself," Wirtz explained.

Huth is not convinced. Not by the words. Not by the body of work so far. And certainly not by what he saw on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season.

Liverpool’s 2-2 draw away at Newcastle United offered Wirtz another stage. Huth did not like the performance. "His body language is also a bit poor," he remarked, questioning the midfielder’s presence and impact in a game that swung wildly but never really seemed to run through the German.

For Huth, the clock is already ticking. He does not believe a dramatic turnaround is just around the corner. Instead, he floated a scenario that would have been unthinkable when Liverpool wired that 125 million euros to Leverkusen.

"By Christmas they will probably look to move him on if he does not improve, because he has become an expensive problem for Liverpool," the former centre-back said.

The fee, the expectations, the scrutiny – all of it now hangs over Wirtz’s second season on Merseyside. Under Iraola, he has a new system, a fresh voice and another chance. The question is whether that will be enough to silence voices like Huth’s before the winter window opens.