Ex-Tottenham and Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov believes Florian Wirtz will be an “unbelievable” player for Liverpool once he adapts to English football.
The Bulgarian made the same move from Bayer Leverkusen to the Premier League in 2006, and he can see similarities in regards to Wirtz‘s early struggles:
“I love him. He’s a fantastic player. He will be unbelievable, trust me. In my case, I was having doubts. The same process was happening when I arrived at Spurs as it was when I joined Leverkusen.In the beginning, it didn’t work out quite well, and I had to have patience.
“At Spurs – a new environment, new people, new language, new everything – things were taking slowly to happen to me and I was thinking: ‘Maybe I need to go back.’ That negative thinking was there.”
“Then, at the same time when I was thinking like this, my other me was telling me: ‘You saw what happened in Leverkusen – just be patient, you deserve to be here, you wanted a change and to be here. Now be stubborn and work smart and hard’.”
“I was motivating myself at the same time I was sabotaging myself. You want to go to your safe place but you need to have that motivation and ambition in you to overcome the fear.”
Wirtz is finding life hard at Liverpool
There is no disputing the fact that the German hasn’t got to grips with the physicality and speed of the Premier League. He has yet to score or provide an assist domestically.
However, he created two goals in the 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt last week, which demonstrates how much more comfortable he is when facing Bundesliga opposition. It remains to be seen if he can be as effective in England.
How long did it take Berbatov to adapt?
The striker only scored one goal for Spurs in the Premier League before late November in his first season. Following a goal and two assists against Wigan Athletic, though, he began to show his true colours.
Berbatov ended the campaign with 23 goals in all competitions. It remains to be seen whether Wirtz will be able to produce a similar turnaround in his fortunes over the coming weeks.
Read more about the Liverpool First Team Squad for 2025/26 here
