Xabi Alonso asks Real Madrid to ‘keep tabs’ on Florian Wirtz after slow Liverpool start

Liverpool star Florian Wirtz has yet to show his Bayer Leverkusen form since moving to Anfield in what was briefly a club record switch before Alexander Isak’s arrival

A tough start to Florian Wirtz’s Anfield career has left Real Madrid on red alert, according to reports in Spain. Madrid boss Xabi Alonso was the German playmaker’s manager at Bayer Leverkusen, and there has been talk of a reunion if Liverpool decide to cash in on their £116million man.

Wirtz began his spell in English football with an assist in the Community Shield, but hasn’t been able to follow it up with another goal contribution in any of his nine Premier League or Champions League games. Liverpool have been creating plenty of chances, scoring in all but one of their games, but a fast start has been derailed by three straight losses in all competitions.

There is no suggestion at this stage that Liverpool plan to give up on the German international. He was left out of the starting line-up for Saturday’s defeat at Chelsea, but showed promising signs after replacing Conor Bradley at the start of the second half.

Liverpool grew into the game in the second half, equalising through Cody Gakpo, but couldn’t grab a second goal and were punished by Chelsea sub Estevao in the dying stages. It meant they lost their grip on top spot as we head into the international break.

Alonso’s Real Madrid had a better response to their first league defeat of the season, beating Villarreal at home and ending the weekend top of La Liga after Barcelona lost to Sevilla. Even so, there have been reports that Alonso wants Los Blancos’ higher-ups to keep tabs on Wirtz in case an exit route does look possible.

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After Saturday’s defeat at Chelsea, Liverpool manager Arne Slot was asked whether his team was still looking for balance after a busy summer in the transfer market. “I think if you play the style we play – so a high press – and the style Chelsea plays – a high press – it would be a surprise if both teams, with the quality that both teams have, that they never play through your press, so that would be unrealistic,” he said.

“You go here to Stamford Bridge with them having eight injuries, so you’re like, ‘This can be positive, then they probably don’t have the options from the bench.’ But they did still have a few good options from the bench to impact the game. So it would be unrealistic to expect that if you play Chelsea – they want to play out from the back – that they never play through your press, as we played through their press as well.”

Alonso goes into the international break celebrating a win for his team, but it didn’t pass without injury worries. Kylian Mbappe and Franco Mastantuono both left the field in the closing stages of the match, and Madrid’s manager issued an update.

“Kylian had a discomfort in his ankle and Franco has an overload in his hamstring,” Alonso said. “We will continue the progression with their national teams.

“We can’t say if (Mbappe) will go with France or not, they will have to evaluate him in their national team. If it gets complicated, he won’t be able to play, but now we can’t say anything.”

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