If few know what it has been like to be Florian Wirtz in the last few months, Virgil van Dijk probably has a better idea than most, and not merely because he is a Liverpool FC teammate. The Dutchman has been there: signed for a supersized fee, with sky-high expectations, arriving from a smaller club to be plunged into the spotlight as Liverpool’s record buy. Wirtz became Liverpool’s first £100m man. Yet Van Dijk’s cost might have stood out still more: some £75m, making him the most expensive defender in history when he joined in 2018.
But there their paths diverged. Van Dijk ranked as an immediate success. He scored a late winner on his Liverpool debut; to compound it, it was a Merseyside derby. Wirtz got an assist four minutes into his Liverpool career but it was in a Community Shield that was lost. After 18 games and four months, he still has not scored. Even when he thought he did, Liverpool’s equaliser against Sunderland on Wednesday was instead deemed a Nordi Mukiele own goal.
