REAL MADRID manager Xabi Alonso has reportedly asked club bosses to keep tabs on Florian Wirtz.
Ex-Liverpool midfielder Alonso brought the best out of Wirtz when they worked together at Bayer Leverkusen.
Florian Wirtz was benched for the trip to Chelsea[/caption]
But the German has made a dreary start to life on Merseyside.
Wirtz hasn’t scored or set up a goal in 10 appearances for the Reds across all competitions.
And that is particularly worrying in light of the whopping £116.5million fee it took to sign him.
According to Defensa Central, Alonso is keen for Real to keep a close eye on Wirtz in case he fails to acclimatise and ends up looking for a way out.
The boss could be reunited with his former Leverkusen maestro when Los Blancos travel to Liverpool for a Champions League clash in less than a month.
The Merseysiders are unlikely to green light Wirtz’s sale within a year of spending a nine-figure transfer fee to land him.
But there are already signs of teething problems.
Wirtz, 22, was dropped from the starting line-up before Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Chelsea.
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And the ruthless decision from manager Arne Slot didn’t even come as a surprise.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher called for Wirtz to be benched before the game.
He told CBS Sports: “I don’t think the balance of the team is right and the obvious one that stands out is Florian Wirtz.
“He’s just not at the races at all. He’s a young boy coming into a new league – he has got plenty of time to go as Liverpool player but right now I think he needs to come out of the team.
“Liverpool [need to] go back to what they were last season and then go from there and build some confidence, build some defensive stability. Because right now it is a mess.”
The personnel change at Stamford Bridge didn’t work out as planned.
With Dominik Szoboszlai starting in place of Wirtz, Liverpool lost to a 95th-minute Estevao strike.
And the Reds have sunk to second in the Premier League table after three consecutive defeats.
Wirtz played under Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen[/caption]
Carragher called for Wirtz to be dropped by Liverpool boss Arne Slot[/caption]
