Rio Ferdinand claims key Liverpool star will already be ‘doubting’ summer move

Rio Ferdinand is certain that one high-profile Liverpool summer signing will already be having doubts about his move to the Premier League.

Despite cantering to the league title in Arne Slot’s first season, Liverpool did not rest on their laurels when it came to the summer transfer window.

The Reds splashed almost £450million on six new players, breaking the British transfer record on two occasions with the signings of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak.

Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Giovanni Leoni also arrived on Merseyside, but it has not proved to be a settling first few months for many of the new players, given Liverpool’s poor recent form.

Wirtz and Isak, in particular, have had their performances placed under a microscope given their lofty fees but neither have produced the goods so far for Slot’s side.

Isak is still yet to score for Liverpool in a league game and was hauled off after 72 minutes on Sunday in their defeat to Manchester United.

But things have arguably gone worse for Wirtz, who has been reduced to cameo appearances off the bench for Liverpool’s two most recent games against Chelsea and United.

The German arrived from Bayer Leverkusen for £116m with lofty expectations after shining for several seasons under Xabi Alonso.

But Ferdinand believes the 22-year-old may be starting to have doubts creep in about his move as he struggles to find a regular starting berth under Slot.

‘It’s a massive decision – you’re a £100m player. I was a record signing a couple of times in my career, and if at any point in those first two or three months, if a manager dropped me for a game of that importance and significance, there would have been huge doubts in my mind,’ Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel.

‘Doubts would creep in, it would be impossible that you don’t start thinking ‘have I made the right decision’.’

The former United defender continued: ‘I was with a player, I can’t mention his name, he was a big signing for a team, and he said he started slow at one of the teams he signed for, and he was going: ‘Oh my god, have I made the right decision’.

‘There were question marks in his own head and this guy comes across as a confident player.

‘And there is no doubt in my mind right now that when Wirtz saw his name not on that team sheet that he was going on his way home, in the warm-up, in his bed that night: ‘Is this the right decision’.

‘I’m not saying it’s the wrong decision, but I’d have a big amount of money if I was a gambling man that there would have been a thought in his mind that said that and went along those lines.’

Ferdinand, meanwhile, called for patience when it came to Wirtz’s teammate, Isak, suggesting the Swede will not be an automatic success despite his previous Premier League experience.

‘Isak at the moment is in transition from a new team, new culture, a new changing room, etc,’ he said.

‘New responsibilities, new pressures, and he hasn’t hit the ground running like a lot of us would have expected. I think you got to take into consideration this is a very different setup, [a] very different team.

‘He’s gone from a team that played with flying wingers who were just getting the ball in the box, getting down the sides, smashing the ball across the box to playing against teams with a high line and running onto things as well.

‘It’s such a different setup and a look to what he’s been used to. Again, when you’re recruiting players, are you accounting for what it’s going to be like and [what] the differences are going to be here and can that player adapt?

‘Now, listen, we’re all sitting there going Isak is a sure certain thing he’s going to fly. he’s going to do his thing at Liverpool and I think he will in time but there’s an adaptation period now which he’s got to adjust to quickly before people really start getting on his back.’

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