Ryan Gravenberch emerging as possible antidote to Florian Wirtz’s paltry returns

IT’S just not clicking for Florian Wirtz (£5.6m) right now.

Before the season got underway we posited that even supremely talented players sometimes need a bit of time to adjust to new surroundings and so that’s proven to be the case for the German midfielder at Liverpool.

This came to a head for Dream Team managers on Saturday when Wirtz was named on the bench for the Merseyside derby.

The 22-year-old replaced Cody Gakpo (£4.8m) in the 61st minute but a yellow card meant he finished with zero points anyway.

At the time of writing, Wirtz has just 17 points to name in total having failed to score or assist since the Community Shield, a fixture outside Dream Team’s remit.

These paltry returns are not befitting of a man who remains the sixth-most popular asset in his position with an ownership of 15.6%.

Given the Reds have won six from six in all competitions at the start of this season, some Dream Team managers may choose to remain loyal to Wirtz in hope that he gets in on the act sooner rather than later.

Having been benched against Everton, it’s possible he gets a decent run out against Southampton in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night — a favourable match-up that might yield healthy returns.

But many gaffers have lost patience.

Understandably, Wirtz is currently the second-most transferred-out player ahead of Gameweek 6.

In contrast, Ryan Gravenberch (£4.1m) is the most popular recruit as things stand.

The Dutchman scored Liverpool’s opening goal against the Toffees and provided an assist for Hugo Ekitike (£5m) with an inviting throughball.

Additionally, no player made more tackles (5) at Anfield on Saturday.

When the dust settled, Gravenberch banked 15 points — the joint-highest tally of Gameweek 5 to date alongside Leeds United’s Anton Stach (£2.6m).

The ex-Bayern midfielder almost earned as many points in 90 minutes as Wirtz has managed all season.

Dream Team bosses keen on Liverpool assets could swap Wirtz for Gravenberch, opening up funds to invest elsewhere in the process.

Dominik Szoboszlai (£4.7m) has also outperformed his new team-mate to date, despite playing a lot of minutes at right-back.

MOST POINTS AMONG LIVERPOOL MIDFIELDERS

• 36 pts – Ryan Gravenberch
• 34 pts – Dominik Szoboszlai
• 17 pts – Florian Wirtz
• 15 pts – Alexis Mac Allister
• 12 pts – Curtis Jones

Gravenberch is now joint-tenth among all players in his position and should be considered a decent option for Gameweek 6, when Arne Slot’s side will face Crystal Palace and Galatasaray.

This move will be popular among gaffers who like to work the Dream Team stock market to their advantage as his price will surely increase after the deadline passes.

There’s plenty of time remaining this season for Wirtz to come good but it’s simply true that those who stayed clear of him have been entirely justified so far.