“You can’t carry on like this!” Liverpool legend advises Florian Wirtz to seek a move after just one game

Jamie Carragher has strongly criticised Florian Wirtz – and questioned the value of Liverpool’s €125 million promise.

"I don't think we're seeing a massive drop-off in performance," the Reds club icon told Sky Sport: "What we've been seeing for a year is probably what he is: a decent footballer."

Wirtz, who moved to Merseyside before last season, is "not a player who should be worth £110 million, but someone who is probably worth £50 million to £60 million, somewhere around there", Carragher explained: "Decent, with a nice touch. I'm not sure what people expect."

At 48, Carragher no longer sees a role for him in the team. "What are you supposed to do with Wirtz?" he asked, adding: "This idea that players need a year to settle into the Premier League, I think that's a myth."

Florian Wirtz urged to consider Liverpool exit

Carragher's criticism centred on Wirtz's display in the season opener, when Andoni Iraola's new side at least rescued a 2-2 (0-1) draw at Newcastle United in stoppage time. Wirtz was already off by then, with the Germany international substituted in the 63rd minute for Liverpool.

"I thought this topic wouldn't come up for another six weeks," Carragher said, "but it's already coming up now. I just don't see where he fits into the team at all." Wirtz started the opening game of the season as the playmaker, but Carragher would rather see former Leipzig player Dominik Szoboszlai in that role. The Hungarian scored the penalty for the late equaliser.

"You can't carry on like this. It's not working. It didn't work last season. I just think it's slowly getting to the point where he no longer fits into the team," Carragher said.

Alongside him, Gary Neville has also emerged as a prominent Wirtz critic and called for a clear improvement from the Germany international. "If you want to be that nice, you'd better be an unbelievably good footballer," he remarked on the podcast on Sky . "Wirtz lacks that bite for me," Neville said, explicitly targeting the German playmaker. "All I see is a nice player running around the pitch without giving the impression that he's really tearing himself apart. That can happen, some players just have that style. But sometimes I want to give him a kick up the backside."