‘Mo Salah numbers’ problem for Florian Wirtz & Bradley Barcola at Liverpool as Michael Owen admits transfer fee questions hang over stars worth £100m-plus

Liverpool spent big on Wirtz, Isak & Ekitike

Liverpool invested £116m ($154m) in German midfielder Wirtz during the summer of 2025. He joined a side that were reigning Premier League champions, with huge sums of cash also being splashed out on Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong during the busiest of windows.

The Reds flopped as a collective last season, with British record signing Isak registering just four goals. Wirtz fared little better, as he struggled to pull strings effectively as a creative No.10, and is still waiting on the spark that he showed at Bayer Leverkusen to be rekindled.

Cherki outperforming Wirtz as Premier League playmaker

He failed to sparkle under the brightest of spotlights against City, as opposite number Cherki stole the show with a cheeky third goal for the Blues that wrapped up a convincing win for the visitors to Merseyside over 10-man opponents.

France international Cherki cost City just £34m ($45m), but his body of work in the North West of England is considerably more impressive than that being pieced together by Wirtz. Serious questions have been asked of whether Liverpool spent big on the right personnel.

Barcola is in danger of heading down that path on the back of his £123m ($163m) move from Champions League title holders Paris Saint-Germain. The 24-year-old is yet to find the target through five appearances in all competitions, or register an assist.

Why are big-money signings struggling at Liverpool?

Asked about the struggles being endured by elaborate additions at Anfield, former Liverpool striker Owen - who was speaking as ambassador of Casino.org, where UK players can find reliable online casino information - told GOAL: “It is a problem for Liverpool in terms of the money that they've spent on a variety of different players.

“Obviously, that transfer window where they spent that money, they bought Isak, Ekitike, Wirtz, that money that they've spent is not looking value for money at the moment. They say rising tides lift all boats. It always happens where it's all or nothing.

“I don't think that they're necessarily bad players at all. In fact, I think they're exceptional players. And when they were signed, I was full of hope, anticipation, excitement etc. But obviously, as things have gone, the team aren't playing very well.

“And then you look towards those players that have cost a lot of money or those players where it’s a case of ‘hang on, the team was really good last year and invested all this money, where's it gone wrong?’ And your eyes get drawn to the big money signings all the time. I get that. That's what's happened.

“I know Barcola's only been there for five games, but even that signing you're thinking that the problem is you need to be hitting Mo Salah numbers to be able to justify a fee of that size.

“If you're a club, you're thinking, ‘right, spending this, we need those types of numbers to justify it’. And obviously, nobody's going to get near to those numbers of Mo Salah. So it is a problem.

“I refuse to believe he's [Wirtz] not good enough. We've seen it in different leagues. We've seen it on international duty. But there is no question that he's underperforming in a Liverpool shirt and has been for over a season.

“And it's an issue. It's an issue that Liverpool need to find a way of getting the best out of him because it's not even a doubt that it's in there. But getting it out is a huge doubt because it's been over a year now.”

Liverpool fixtures 2026-27: Champions League action resumes

A 3-0 reversal against City, after seeing Ryan Gravenberch sent off, was Liverpool’s first loss under Andoni Iraola in a competitive fixture this season. They will get the chance to make immediate amends for that setback when facing LASK in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The likes of Wirtz and Barcola will be hoping to get back into the groove there, especially with Swedish striker Isak nursing a thigh injury, with there a lot of work to be done before they can claim to have justified the nine-figure price tags hanging around their necks.