Florian Wirtz is set to be bumped down a place in the list of most expensive British transfers of all time, after Chelsea agreed a £117m deal to sign Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa.
Rogers had been expected to join Arsenal, but will now link up with Xabi Alonso at Stamford Bridge, with the former Liverpool midfielder potentially earmarking him as the player to emulate the role Wirtz played in his Bundesliga-winning Bayer Leverkusen team.
The two players certainly have similarities, and, given Rogers will cost just £1m more than the German did upon joining Liverpool last summer, there is value in comparing their output. Sadly for Reds fans, that does not reflect especially well on Wirtz.
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Wirtz is second best to Rogers
Though Wirtz and Rogers are obviously not identical in playing style, they are both fairly orthodox attacking midfielders who can also do a job on the wing if needed.
Their primary job is to create for their team, while also providing a goal threat from a slightly deeper role than the wide or centre forwards. Both now 23, they are also at identical stages of their career, and can be judged against one another as a result.
In terms of chance creation, that is the one key area where Wirtz comes out on top against Rogers, having set up 60 Premier League opportunities for his teammates compared to the 47 Rogers created. That the Liverpool No. 7 wins that battle despite playing 900 fewer minutes is impressive.
Nevertheless, of the 60 chances Wirtz made, only three ended in goals. His ability to rack up assists was surely part of the reason Liverpool decided to pay £116m on the 23-year-old in the first place, having seen him set up 33 goals for Leverkusen across the last two seasons.
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Though he did manage eight in all competitions for Liverpool last season, he could not come close to Rogers, who set up six Premier League goals and a further five in all competitions for Villa, making 11 in total.
Goal-scoring is clearly something that favours the England international as well, and he doubled Wirtz’s tally in 25/26, finding the net 14 times. 10 of those goals came in the Premier League, including one against Liverpool, while Wirtz scored only five – seven in all competitions – as the Reds finished below Aston Villa.
Liverpool need much more from Wirtz
There are plenty of people questioning the fee Chelsea are paying to sign Rogers, and it is undoubtedly an eye-catching amount, but based on Wirtz’s price-tag and how the former Man City youth prospect outperformed him last season, you can see how Villa have come to that amount.
While it demonstrates how highly Rogers is rated within English football, it also shows that Liverpool must absolutely demand more from Wirtz next season.
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The former Koln man has had a fairly easy ride despite underwhelming with the Reds so far, but that will end if he cannot step up in 2026/27.
Under a more attacking, energetic manager, there is reason to believe that Wirtz will come good, and having pace out wide and a fit Alexander Isak in front of him will no doubt help as well. But there is definitely pressure on the Germany international to show that he is even on the same level as someone like Rogers.
For the fee Liverpool spent on him, Wirtz should be their main man. With Mohamed Salah gone, there is a spot for someone to really become the face of Andoni Iraola’s Reds.
So far, the No. 7 has not really looked like doing that, but he should now have fully acclimatised to English football, and he simply has to hit the ground running. Getting knocked out of the World Cup early with Germany may help him in that respect, and Wirtz should be back at Liverpool next week.
From there, plenty will no doubt be comparing the seasons that he and Rogers can deliver for Liverpool and Chelsea respectively. Wirtz lost that battle emphatically last term, if he comes out second best again, the Reds should seriously begin thinking about whether they need to move him on.
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