Slot: Wirtz hasn't played his best yet

Florian Wirtz joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2025 for a club-record fee north of £100m, and by most measures the numbers are already doing the fee justice. Seven goals, ten assists across competitions in a debut season at a new club, in a new league, in a new language. That is not a player struggling to settle. That is a player settling in style.

Then Slot opened his mouth. Asked — again — about Wirtz's adaptation to English football, the Liverpool manager offered seven words that should concern every other Premier League side: "he has not played his best football yet." He said it calmly. That's the part that gets you.