Florian Wirtz on the difference between Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen: "When you're in the stadium in Liverpool, you realize: This is just a little bit above and beyond."

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In an interview with Sky Germany, Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz dived into his first couple of weeks in the Premier League.

Earlier in the week, Wirtz had spoken about his initial teething problems with the league leaders, considering the noise surrounding him.

Now, he has dived further into his first couple of months in England.

The 22-year-old spent the start of his professional career at Leverkusen, a club that is admittedly on the smaller side, as it is found in the Rhein region, a town outside of Köln and is also near Borussia Mönchengladbach.

On the difference in moving between Leverkusen and Liverpool, Wirtz said:

“I loved playing for Leverkusen . I loved the fans, the club. When you’re in the stadium in Liverpool, you realize: This is just a little bit above and beyond. It’s impressive when ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ is played at Anfield. It does something to you when so many people sing that song. It definitely gets under your skin.”

Wirtz has moved for a lot of money; at the time, it was a British transfer record before Liverpool broke their own record with the arrival of Alexander Isak from Newcastle, and Wirtz was also the subject of a transfer saga between Liverpool and Bayern Munich.

On what helped him choose to move to the reigning Premier League champions, the 22-year-old said:

“I had in mind that Liverpool is a family-oriented club. But of course, what convinced me most was the football aspect.”

The price that Liverpool paid has also been spoken about alot when it comes to Wirtz’s earlier-season performance. The German international is seemingly not worried about it:

“It is what it is. We’re not used to Liverpool spending so much. They haven’t done that in recent years, and then they were able to do it this summer. Of course, it’s not normal for a player to cost that much. Everyone knows that. But at the moment, it’s just paid for. The coach told me that here in the squad, you don’t have to put any pressure on yourself about how much you cost or didn’t cost, because it feels like everyone around you could cost just as much if they were playing somewhere else.”

Wirtz’s early struggles at Liverpool:

Most of the pressure around Wirtz is being built up on social media. While he may have struggled to score or assist in the opening few games of the season (he assisted in the Community Shield against Crystal Palace), he has been progressing as he gets used to the differences in the league to the Bundesliga.

On why he may be struggling in the earlier stages:

“It could be that I’m trying to pass the ball faster. I recently talked to the coach about it, and he suggested why I might not be able to get into the situations I normally get into. That is, that I’m making the game fast with a dribble or a pass. He said it could be because we press a lot and I run a lot. For example, the running stats: I’m always at the top there because I try to push hard and do what the coach asks. I need a lot of strength and energy for that. When I have the ball, I might be lacking a little bit. That it will simply come step by step, as I play more games, get fitter, be able to do things more easily, and then, when I have the ball, be fit enough and recovered enough to push hard.”

Finally, Wirtz was asked when he could be at 100% in terms of the player he was in the past couple of seasons at Leverkusen:

“That’s difficult to say. I’d like to know, too, but it can take some time until you really arrive somewhere and settle in and are familiar with everything, and I’ll allow myself that. I just hope that at some point the time will come when I feel truly comfortable, at home, and ready.

It is clear that everyone, except fans of rival clubs, are patient with Wirtz and when his arrival in the Premier League will happen. At the weekend, Liverpool plays Crystal Palace.

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