Danny Murphy has specified the ‘bare minimum’ target for goals and assists that he thinks Florian Wirtz needs to reach for Liverpool in the 2026/27 season.
The Germany playmaker arrived from Bayer Leverkusen 13 months ago in a £116m deal (The Athletic) but endured a frustrating first year in English football, scoring just seven times (and providing 10 assists) in 49 appearances for the Reds.
The 23-year-old was criticised for going ‘missing’ in big matches (such as the away loss to Manchester United in May) and, by his own admission, found himself having to adjust to the physicality of the Premier League after arriving on Merseyside.
Speaking to GOAL in association with BetWright football betting, Murphy has thrown down the gauntlet to Wirtz in terms of his G/A output for next season, now that he’s had a full year at Liverpool.
The former Reds midfielder said: “I always think if you play in an attacking role, whether it be off the left, as a 10, off the right now when most teams play like a 4-2-3-1 or whatever formation, you’ve got to be looking at double figures, assists and goals.
“That’s a bare minimum, because the best players in the world and around Europe who are playing in those positions are comfortably getting those numbers. You’ve got to aim for that, because looking good without end product doesn’t win you football matches. There weren’t enough big games where he impacted them.”
Murphy is hopeful that Wirtz’s numbers will improve next term, saying: “I think he’ll be better. I hope he’ll be better. I think he will, and I think that if he can start looking at double figures [for] goals and assists, then you’re really impacting the team. That should be the bare minimum.”
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Murphy’s criticism of Liverpool’s number 7 not impacting ‘big games’ isn’t unfounded, as the German didn’t score against any of the Premier League’s top 10 last season.
The highest opponent against whom he netted was 11th-placed Fulham, while his two goals outside of the top flight came against Barnsley in the FA Cup and Qarabag in the Champions League during a purple patch in January (Transfermarkt).
Considering how much Wirtz cost to sign, Reds fans would have every right to expect more from a technically brilliant player who, in both of his final two seasons at Leverkusen, hit double figures for goals and assists in the Bundesliga alone.
Now that the 23-year-old has become more attuned to the rigours of the Premier League, hopefully he can fulfil the target set for him by Murphy – of course, that’d be contingent on him remaining fit throughout the campaign, like he thankfully did in 2025/26 aside from a couple of brief absences.
It’s worth remembering that Kevin De Bruyne wasn’t an instant success at Manchester City before going on to become one of the best players in the world. We still have every faith that, in time, Wirtz could make a similar impact at Liverpool, with the criticism of recent months being long forgotten.
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“you’ve got to be looking at double figures, assists and goals”
Button it Murphy, you only had 44 goals and 41 assists in 249 games.
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