Woltemade Offers perspective on Wirtz‘s Slow Start with Liverpool FC
LONDON – As Florian Wirtz navigates a challenging start to his career โคwith Liverpool FC following a blockbuster transfer, fellow German international Marvin Woltemade has offeredโ a comparative analysis of their respective beginnings toโค the season. โwoltemade,currently playing for Newcastle United,highlighted โkey differences in their playing styles and acknowledged the difficulty ofโ adapting โฃto a new league.
The comparison comes โฃamid scrutiny of Wirtz’s goal-scoring record – three goals in 16 games and noneโ in 11 Premierโค League appearances – despite a transfer fee โof at least โฃโฌ125 million, making him the most expensive German professional in history.โข Woltemade, who joined Newcastle for โฌ75 million (plus bonuses) from VfB Stuttgart, has scored six goals in 14 appearances and seen his market value rise to โฌ65 million, while Wirtz’s recently dipped โขfrom โฌ140โ million to โฌ130 million.Bothโ players now โคrank among Germany’s most valuableโ footballers, trailing only Jamal Musiala.
“On โpaper you mayโข not see the goals,but if โขyou compare my games with his,he is much more in the game,” woltemade told RTL. “I probably stand correctly three or four times,get the ball and shoot it โin – he,on the other hand,is very active in the game,has a lot of ballโ contact and good actions.” He added,”It’s not an easy transition for any player,butโ he’s doing a very good job.”
National team coach Julian nagelsmann recently defended โWirtz, suggesting, “Maybe someone should just shoot the things he presents. That would also be an idea. As he doesn’t do very little in โfront of the goal. they just somehow like notโข to shoot the things in there. That’s also part of the truth.” The contrastingโข starts for the two players โare being closely watched as Germanyโฃ prepares โfor upcoming international fixtures, with both expected to play a key role in the future.
