Arsene Wenger claims that Liverpool’s signing of Florian Wirtz has “destroyed” the Premier League champions’ midfield.
The German was signed for £116million from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, turning down interest from Bayern Munich to move to England.
Wirtz, 22, has struggled to hit the ground running since his Anfield arrival, playing 15 times in all competitions, adding three assists and scoring no goals.
He has played in a multitude of positions since arriving on Merseyside, playing as a No8, a No10, and out wide in Arne Slot’s starting XIs.
In the recent 1-0 win over Real Madrid, the German started on the left flank ahead of Cody Gakpo, having been dropped to the bench for the 2-0 home victory against Aston Villa.
On beIN Sports, former Arsenal boss Wenger said that Wirtz may have to get used to playing in his unfavoured position if he wants to start games.
“When Wirtz had the choice between going to Bayern Munich or to Liverpool. He said to Liverpool, ‘I [will] come to you if I play No10, I do not want to play wide’. Liverpool, to get him said, ‘Ok’.
“So they start[ed] him [and] they destroyed their midfield because their midfield was [Ryan] Gravenberch, [Alexis] Mac Allister and [Dominik] Szoboszlai, [and] to play Wirtz they took Szoboszlai out.
“What have they done against Aston Villa? They came back to their normal midfield of last year.
“Tonight [against Real Madrid] they play[ed] Wirtz. I am sure the manager has said, ‘if you want to play again you have to play wide because I do not want to disturb the midfield’.”
The win over Madrid takes Liverpool to sixth in the Champions League table, and makes it two victories from their last two European outings, having thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 on matchday three.
