The warning from a man who knows this club

Emile Heskey has seen enough of Liverpool to know what happens when a squad is reshaped around one individual, and he is not convinced Andoni Iraola should go down that road for Florian Wirtz. The former Reds striker, who lifted the FA Cup, UEFA Cup and League Cup as part of Gerard Houllier's squad 25 years ago, has offered a blunt assessment of the balancing act Iraola faces with his £116m signing.

Heskey's comments come off the back of an encouraging international break for Wirtz, who captained Germany to a 0-0 draw with Greece on Monday and scored in the 2-0 win over Serbia last week. The German also spoke publicly about how conversations with new national team manager Jurgen Klopp have given him a lift, and Heskey is in no doubt about why that would be the case.

"You've got to remember that Jurgen Klopp is probably up there with the best of the best, so he knows how to get the best out of players," Heskey told 10Bet. "He knows how players' minds work. He knows what they want and how they feel, and he's shown that time and time again, not just with Wirtz, but with every player that he's come across. That's why there are so many players that mention that they'd love to play under him, because they believe that he could understand them and get the best out of them."

Structure first, star second

But Heskey was equally clear that Iraola cannot simply tear up his tactical blueprint to give Wirtz the freedom Klopp might offer at international level. The concern is not with Wirtz himself, it is with the knock-on effect on everything else that currently makes Liverpool tick.

"If Iraola gave Wirtz that level of freedom, he would be changing his entire team structure for one player," Heskey said. "Liverpool must figure out how to get the best out of him within the structure that the manager likes. A manager is always going to have a structure that he prefers and that he likes, and then he's got to figure out who fits where best and how he and the players around Wirtz can get the best out of him. So changing everything to suit one player is very tough, the balance of the team and the overall chemistry has to be prioritised."

It is a reasonable point, and one Iraola will be well aware of. Bedding in a player of Wirtz's quality without disrupting the collective is one of the more nuanced problems in modern management, and it is a problem that does not get easier when the fixture list stops waiting for anyone.

Injury concern adds a new layer

The return to action could scarcely be more demanding. Liverpool host Manchester City on Sunday afternoon, and Iraola is already sweating on the fitness of two key forwards after both picked up knocks during the international break. Speaking to beIN Sports, the Liverpool boss confirmed the situation: "I think Alex Isak and Cody Gakpo both have had to leave the national teams with injuries. Now it's a matter of if they are going to recover in time to help us in the next game or not. But right now they are both injured."

If both are ruled out, Wirtz could find himself deployed as a false nine against City, a scenario that would hand him exactly the kind of central, free-roaming role Heskey is cautioning against. The irony is not lost: circumstance might force Iraola's hand in the very way his squad's balance demands he resists. How the Spaniard navigates that particular tightrope on Sunday could tell us a great deal about where Wirtz fits in the long run.