Florian Wirtz's Struggles at Liverpool: Huth Predicts Exit

Robert Huth does not see a happy ending coming for Florian Wirtz at Liverpool. In fact, the former Premier League defender is already talking about an exit.

"I really find it hard to see how this can still turn around," Huth said on All Out Football's podcast In The Mixer, dissecting Wirtz’s situation at Anfield with the bluntness that marked his playing days. With 322 Premier League appearances and a title win with Leicester City in 2016 behind him, he knows the league’s demands as well as anyone.

For Huth, the core problem is not Wirtz’s talent. The 23-year-old is, in his words, "obviously a good player". The issue, he argues, is whether the Germany international can handle the league’s physical intensity.

"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. The implication was clear: this might be a level too brutal, too relentless, even for a gifted playmaker.

Liverpool certainly paid a price that leaves no room for half-measures. In 2025 they sent a base fee of 125 million euros to Bayer Leverkusen to bring Wirtz to England, a statement signing meant to anchor the club’s next era. His first season, though, never fully caught fire. There were flashes, moments where his touch and vision lit up Anfield, but not the sustained influence that fee demands.

Now comes year two, under new coach Andoni Iraola, and with it the expectation of a definitive breakthrough. This is supposed to be the season when Wirtz stops being a project and starts being the player Liverpool thought they were buying.

Wirtz, for his part, rejects the idea that he is struggling to cope.

"I would say that I have developed in almost every area. Definitely when it comes to my physical level," he told RTL and Sky in a recent interview, pushing back against Huth’s verdict and others like it. He painted a picture of a training ground where standards are unforgiving.

"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," the Germany international explained.

Huth is not convinced. His scepticism hardened after Liverpool’s opening Premier League game of the new season, a 2-2 draw away to Newcastle United. Wirtz started, but his performance only deepened the doubts in Huth’s mind.

"His body language is also a bit poor," Huth said, zeroing in not just on duels and sprints, but on how Wirtz carried himself when the game turned frantic. For a player expected to lead, that matters.

The former centre-back believes the clock is already ticking. He does not expect a slow-burn adaptation or a patient, multi-year project. In his view, Liverpool may be forced into a brutal decision if the form does not spike soon.

"By Christmas they will probably look to move him on if he does not improve, because he has become an expensive problem for Liverpool," Huth warned.

A 125-million-euro talent, a new coach, a sceptical Premier League veteran and a fanbase demanding instant impact: Wirtz’s second season at Anfield is no longer just about development. It is about survival at the sharpest end of the game.