SerpApi.Org
Former Liverpool star John Arne Riise has called for more consistency from Florian Wirtz, as the Germany international prepares for a huge season ahead in his career at Anfield.
The Reds paid roughly $155 million to get a move for the playmaker over the line last summer, initially breaking the club and Premier League transfer record - before it was smashed again with the signing of Alexander Isak.
Having won the division the season prior, the arrival of Wirtz, along with the other superstar names around him, meant there was a belief that Liverpool could be even better.
That never materialized, as several factors played into the team struggling to make their talent count on the pitch, and questions still remain about the key players within the locker room.
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That includes Wirtz, who never quite showed enough to justify the huge transfer fee against his name. The 23-year-old managed just seven goals and ten assists across all competitions, as he struggled to adjust to the Premier League.
There were glimpses of his quality, particularly in a spell from December to February, where he started to show exactly what he was capable of.
That momentum quickly slipped away, however, as a back injury left him out of action and unable to build on that positive run until the end of the season.
For Riise, the task for Wirtz now is to find some consistency, as he told BestBettingSites: "I hope so [that Wirtz's signing will work out].
"When your team signs players of that calibre, you really want them to be successful. You see how good they were before they arrived, and you want them to adapt quickly.
"You just want them to show what they can do on the pitch. You see flashes of it in some games, but he has to be consistent enough, and we definitely need to see more from him."
Considering the amount spent on transfers last summer, it's clear that all of the stars signed in that period will need to step up and perform at the level expected from the fees associated with them.
For Wirtz, there is now a year of adjustment behind him. He now knows the level of the Premier League, and will be used to what comes from living in England, which should all play a role in seeing an improvement.
As for someone like Isak, his season was heavily impacted by a lack of pre-season and injury troubles, two issues that should be solved this year to help him push on and get more goals.
There may be some adjustments from Iraola to help get the most out of Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong at full-back, while there is a wait to see Hugo Ekitike back in action due to his injury.
It remains to be seen exactly how Wirtz and last summer's arrivals will do, but they will be key in how Liverpool performs over the next season, just as much as the new arrivals this summer.
