Lothar Matthaus says Liverpool have a 'superb player' who will soon shine in the Premier League

Liverpool have already witnessed some success from their new summer signings.

Jeremie Frimpong scored on his debut against Crystal Palace in the FA Community Shield – as did Hugo Ekitike, who can boast three goals in four games as a Liverpool player so far.

However, the £116m man Florian Wirtz – the most expensive addition behind the £125m Alexander Isak – is yet to make an impact in the Premier League, failing to score or assist in three appearances.

Wirtz also made a mistake as Germany suffered a 2-0 loss against Slovakia on Thursday night, but Lothar Matthaus has leapt to defend the Liverpool No.7 after a tough time of late.

Lothar Matthaus sympathises with Florian Wirtz and backs him to shine at Liverpool

The 1990 Ballon d’Or winner admitted to Sky Germany that he felt pressure to perform after his move from Bayern Munich to Inter Milan in 1988 – and has backed Wirtz to overcome his slow start.

Matthaus said: “That’s normal after such a big move abroad. He’s a superb player, will get used to the Premier League over time and be able to handle the even greater pressure.

“I felt the same way at Inter Milan at the beginning. Andi Brehme, whose transfer was rather quiet, performed immediately in Milan. I had to get used to everything, partly due to the media hype and the higher transfer fee.”

Matthaus eventually went on to score 53 goals in 154 appearances for Inter Milan, proving to be a roaring success at the San Siro.

Moises Caicedo and others prove Liverpool fans perhaps ought to have expected a slow start from Florian Wirtz

Not only is Wirtz playing his football outside of Germany for the first time in his career, but he is also carrying the tag of being the most expensive player to ever grace the Premier League until Isak gets started.

That is naturally going to come with huge pressure, and it often impacts the best. For example, Moises Caicedo endured a nightmarish debut for Chelsea in a 3-1 defeat at West Ham, following his £115m move from Brighton.

Furthermore, Enzo Fernandez is only now starting to show why Chelsea spent £106.8m to sign him from Benfica in January 2023, while Jack Grealish also struggled with his £100m price tag, now finding himself on loan at Everton.

It is therefore quite normal of Wirtz to be struggling at the moment, but Liverpool rarely make a mistake in the transfer market, so we would not expect a £116m signing to fail at Anfield given the frugality of those on the recruitment team.

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