Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola has thrown his full support behind under-fire marquee signings Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola, insisting he retains absolute faith in the struggling duo ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League fixture against LASK. Wirtz, 23, arrived at Anfield last summer in a blockbuster £116 million deal but has faced mounting scrutiny after struggling to reach double figures in Premier League goal contributions.
Meanwhile, 24-year-old French winger Barcola was brought in from Paris Saint-Germain for a fee reaching £123 million with add-ons, tasked with the daunting responsibility of filling the boots of Mohamed Salah. To date, Barcola is yet to register a competitive goal or assist in Red. Speaking ahead of their European outing on October 14, Iraola dismissed external panic regarding the club’s high-priced acquisitions, urging pundits and fans to look beyond raw statistics.
“Responsibilities are the same [as other senior players in the squad]. The performances are exactly the same. Sometimes we have to focus not just on the numbers,” Iraola said. “I was happy with a lot of things the other day with Bradley. We had good situations, we didn’t finish them.
But him and Florian are players I trust 100%.” With a demanding run of fixtures ahead, the Spanish manager’s public backing will come as a vital vote of confidence for both players as they look to turn their multi-million-pound Anfield careers around on the European stage.