Liverpool boss Arne Slot has revealed a timeline for Florian Wirtz’s potential return after the midfielder missed the West Ham United clash due to injury.
Wirtz has found his rhythm in the second half of the season after a challenging start to life at Liverpool. The German midfielder registered four goals and two assists across a six-game spell in all competitions in January, but he has since missed the last two matches after being withdrawn from the starting XI.
He was initially due to start against Nottingham Forest, only to pull out just minutes before kick-off.
The 22-year-old was again absent on Saturday as Liverpool dismantled the Hammers at Anfield, having been ruled out with the back problem sustained the previous weekend. Head coach Arne Slot confirmed before the game that the former Bayer Leverkusen man would not feature and admitted there was no clear timeframe for his return.
Speaking after the match, Slot suggested Wirtz is highly unlikely to be involved in Tuesday’s meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers and stopped short of offering any assurances over his availability for the FA Cup trip to Molineux.
‘But I said last week I didn’t expect him not to be available for today, so sometimes things can develop in a positive or negative way in an injury.
‘Now we are thinking it doesn’t have to be too long, but Tuesday will probably be too early.
‘The week after will be tight as things stand now.’
Blow
Across his first 15 league appearances of the season, Wirtz completed the full 90 minutes just once. However, before his initial absence against Forest in February, the 22-year-old had managed to see out seven of his previous 10 top-flight matches, suggesting his workload had increased significantly.
Since suffering a cruciate ligament tear at 18, the midfielder has only been sidelined for more than one consecutive game through injury on one occasion — during the closing stages of his final Bundesliga campaign, when a knee issue kept him out for around a month.
His only other absence this season was due to a minor muscle problem, so Liverpool supporters will be optimistic that this latest complaint is not serious.
Liverpool head to Molineux twice next week, with Tuesday’s Premier League meeting against Wolves followed by an FA Cup fifth-round tie at the same venue on Friday night.
