Didi Hamann has warned Liverpool that Florian Wirtz could even consider leaving the club as soon as January, citing Real Madrid as a potential destination.

Florian Wirtz has not had the best of starts to life at Liverpool since making the £116 million move from Bayer Leverkusen. The German player of the season was seen as a solid acquisition by the Premier League champions, with suggestions that he could be the creative fulcrum for Arne Slot’s side.

It took him an eleventh competitive game to register a first assist, and he has been widely criticised for his ‘ordinary’ performances since making the big move from Leverkusen. Wirtz may have failed to hit the ground running at Anfield, but the team is also not performing to the required standards.

Former Liverpool great Jamie Carragher also called for Wirtz to be dropped to improve the club’s chances on the pitch. The big reason for that was to find solutions, as Arne Slot’s tactics have largely proved ineffective in recent weeks, as the club have stumbled early on in the Premier League title race.

Liverpool did fight off a lot of top clubs in the race for Wirtz, with Manchester City abandoning the chase, while Bayern Munich had to concede defeat. Real Madrid were also keen, and the presence of Xabi Alonso did make them a favourites of sorts had they entered the race in a big way.

Wirtz eventually chose Liverpool as his next destination to further his career, although the move has not worked out so far. Former Reds star Didi Hamann has now made a sensational claim on Goal.com, that the summer signing could potentially even leave the club in January, even on loan, while citing Real Madrid as a potential destination.

Hamann said, “I wouldn’t rule anything out in today’s world, especially in football. It’s been reported that Xabi Alonso has asked Real Madrid to keep an eye on Florian Wirtz’s performances and what he does at Liverpool. I reckon it could be true. Because we know how fondly he talks of him.”

“He was the reason they won the league; they won the cup. He was the heartbeat of the Bayer Leverkusen team with Granit Xhaka, and yeah, they keep an eye on him. He’s too good to fail at Liverpool, but it’s been about 10 games now. You can never rule anything out.”

“In my time, Juan Sebastian Veron came to Manchester United as potentially the best midfielder at the time. He lasted one season. So you can never rule anything out. It’ll depend on what happens in the next few weeks. But as I said, at the moment I wouldn’t rule anything out, and if Real Madrid are keeping an eye on him, it could happen.”

There could be plenty of question marks over this claim from Hamann, as Real Madrid might be interested in signing Wirtz in the future, but any move in January seems impossible. The Spanish giants rarely do loans for their transfer targets, and they may not be willing to shell out big on the German in the winter window.

Moreover, Liverpool are not expected to think about offloading the German flop at this moment. Hence, any movement in January could be out of order, although they might think about it in the summer if Wirtz’s performances continue to plummet.