Fans have made some bold claims about Florian Wirtz following Germany's loss to Slovakia in their World Cup qualifying clash.
On Thursday night, several of the biggest national sides in Europe competed in the FIFA 2026 World Cup European qualifiers.
The likes of Belgium, Wales and Northern Ireland all picked up wins on Thursday evening, with England set to play their first match of the international break on Saturday afternoon as they face Andorra.
However, the biggest surprise of the evening came as Euro 2024 hosts Germany suffered a 2-0 loss to Slovakia in their opening Group A fixture, despite naming a full-strength side.
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In the wake of the match, several fans have taken to social media to criticise the German team for their performance, calling out new Liverpool signing Wirtz in particular.
Thursday's match against Slovakia was the first international game Wirtz played since his British record move from Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool in June.
Since the midfielder's arrival at Anfield, he is yet to fully showcase his talents in Liverpool's opening Premier League fixtures, leading to some rival fans already labelling him as a flop.
And following Germany's surprise loss to Slovakia, some of these fans have taken to social media to double down on this view, claiming that he is clearly not been worth the record £116million fee Liverpool paid to sign him.
Reacting to Wirtz's performance for Germany, one football fan wrote on X: "Are you people watching Wirtz for Germany? The guy is not worth half the money Liverpool paid for him."
While another claimed: "Florian Wirtz is too slight & too skinny for the Premier League and is guaranteed to get bullied by more physical players. Wirtz will be the most expensive flop in the history of the Premier League."
With one adding: "Wirtz is just not £150m good. Suspicious game intelligence consistency and technical execution. Just has a nice aesthetic slant to fool the masses.
"Don't need a whole season to tell that he'll be a good contributor like Grealish at City but not a core impact player."
Unfortunately for Wirtz, his standout moment in the match came late in the first half as an error allowed him to be easily dispossessed just past the halfway line, leading to Slovakia taking the lead just seconds later.
Despite this, the 22-year-old created four chances for his teammates during the match, more than any other player on the pitch.
And he was not the only German player to receive criticism online, as Newcastle star signing Nick Woltemade also failed to impress fans ahead of his Premier League debut in the coming weeks.
Topics: Germany, Liverpool, Football, Premier League, FIFA World Cup, Football World Cup
Ben McCrum