Jurgen Klopp has publicly backed Florian Wirtz to emerge as one of the standout players at the 2026 World Cup after a testing first season at Liverpool. Wirtz struggled to settle in a new league and country and endured intense scrutiny, including being branded a “little boy” by Gary Neville after a heavy defeat to Manchester City. Still, he is not viewed as the club’s poorest summer signing of 2025; that label has been reserved for Isak.

The Germany international finished the season with 17 goals and assists across all competitions for the Reds. Klopp believes the experience will serve Wirtz well and that the player can hit a higher level with Germany this summer. Wirtz started throughout qualifying, primarily on the left wing, and recently scored twice and assisted twice in a friendly victory over Switzerland.

“I hope Flo Wirtz will have a fantastic, fantastic World Cup,” Klopp told BBC Sport. “I think he has everything you need to be a standout player. I don’t want to put any pressure on the boy. I really think he showed already how good he can be in a difficult season.”

German supporters will hope Wirtz can lift his game as the four-time champions look to recover from the shock group-stage eliminations of 2018 and 2022. Liverpool are likely to supply a significant contingent to the tournament in North America: the club could have 12 players called up, including Wirtz. Squad numbers were reduced by injury and selection issues; Hugo Ekitiké is ruled out until 2027 with an Achilles injury and Curtis Jones is unlikely to be selected by England.

Klopp reflected on the personal connections that many former Liverpool players will bring to the competition. “I hope that Andy Robertson and Alisson Becker can enjoy that when they meet each other [for Scotland vs. Brazil]. Can you imagine that you play together for such a long time and Scotland qualifies first time, I don’t know since when, for the World Cup, and you meet each other, your friends, in a game like that? I mean, that must be one of the happiest moments in your life.

“I wish Virgil [van Dijk] will have a great tournament. I really wish for Mo [Salah] that he will have a great tournament. I honestly wish that Sadio [Mané] will have a great tournament. [Alexis Mac Allister], if he won, if they win it again. It was so nice to see him with a medal around his neck.

“So many [of my] former players are part of the World Cup, which is really, really nice.”

Those former Liverpool players named in connection with the tournament include Alisson Becker (Brazil), Wataru Endo (Japan), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Jeremie Frimpong (Netherlands), Ryan Gravenberch (Netherlands), Ibrahima Konaté (France), Florian Wirtz (Germany), Alexander Isak (Sweden), Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina) and Mohamed Salah (Egypt).

The Times reports that Mohamed Salah was the first to raise the prospect of terminating his Liverpool contract this summer after deciding he no longer wished to work under manager Arne Slot. The breakdown followed a run of events that included Salah being benched for three matches in a row in December. Salah famously took aim at Slot in December after being benched for three matches in a row, claiming he was being forced out and scapegoated for Liverpool’s poor start to the season.

Slot has acknowledged his part in the situation, saying he does not mind being known as the “bad guy” for his role in Salah’s exit, while denying he is solely responsible and pointing to Salah’s spells out of the team under former boss Jürgen Klopp. Liverpool had shown clear commitment to Salah by offering him a two-year contract last summer after one of the all-time great individual seasons in 2024–25.

Those facts underline the difficulty of the club’s decision. Salah has been Liverpool’s best player over the past decade and sits close to the top of the club’s all-time rankings. Yet the relationship with the manager, a perceived dip in output once a sequence of fortuitous results ended, and growing criticism of his performances this season combined to change the situation drastically over the past 12 months.

There is a view inside and outside the club that responsibility for Liverpool’s struggles has been widely shared, with an argument that Dominik Szoboszlai is the only player worthy of praise. But Salah is judged by different financial standards. His new contract includes a salary of around $540,000 (£400,000) per week. If Salah is no longer the version of himself from 2024–25, Liverpool cannot justify paying him a salary bettered only by Manchester City striker Erling Haaland among all Premier League players.

The club’s hand, the report suggests, has been forced by a combination of falling form, heightened expectations and the fractured relationship between player and manager.

Four Premier League fixtures remain and the battle for Champions League qualification is reaching its final phase. Manchester United sit closest following Monday night’s victory over Brentford, which saw them move 11 points clear of sixth place. The points totals heading into the run-in read: Man Utd 61, Liverpool 58, Aston Villa 58 and Chelsea 48.

Man Utd
Liverpool (H)
Sunderland (A)
Nott’m Forest (H)
Brighton (A)

Liverpool
Man Utd (A)
Chelsea (H)
Aston Villa (A)
Brentford (H)

Aston Villa
Tottenham (H)
Burnley (A)
Liverpool (H)
Man City (A)

Chelsea
Nott’m Forest (H)
Liverpool (A)
Tottenham (H)
Sunderland (A)

Chelsea have a significant deficit to overturn. In fact, given they’re 10 points behind fifth-placed Villa, Opta’s fabled supercomputer offers them just a 0.58% chance of qualifying for the Champions League. “Even victory in all their remaining matches is unlikely to be enough.” On paper the Blues have winnable fixtures, including a trip to Anfield and home matches against Nottingham Forest and Tottenham, but the numbers leave them dependent on others. “They would need Villa to come fifth in the Premier League and win the Europa League, while also finishing sixth themselves.”

Liverpool should be comfortable but their schedule is testing: trips to Manchester United and Aston Villa sandwich a home meeting with Chelsea, and they finish at home to Brentford. The Reds are eight points clear of sixth currently. “The Reds need a maximum of five more points to ensure their qualification.”

Aston Villa sit level on points with Liverpool but behind on goal difference and will aim to clinch qualification quickly, mindful of the Europa League semifinal first leg with Nottingham Forest on Thursday. Their next two fixtures, at home to Tottenham and away at Burnley, are opportunities to move closer to safety in the top five before tougher tests follow.