It was a fine weekend for Liverpool midfielder Florian Wirtz, who grabbed a goal and an assist in Liverpool's 4-1 thumping of Newcastle United in the Premier League.
The former Bayer Leverkusen man's Anfield career has started to blossom after a turbulent start to life in England following his big money move.
However, Wirtz is starting to look more like himself once more. 9 goal contributions in his last 11 appearances are a stark difference to the limited influence he had earlier on in the season.
Wirtz recently took part in BBC's The Football Interview, hosted by Kelly Sommers, which has seen former and current Liverpool personalities such as Brendan Rodgers and Hugo Ekitike interviewed this season.
The German international has kept his cards close to his chest, leading a private life since joining The Kop in the summer. For the first time in England, the one-on-one interview gave some fascinating insight into Wirtz's upbringing, relationships and thoughts on his difficult start to life in the Premier League.
Here are 4 talking points from his recent sit-down on The Football Interview:
His father was a massive early influence on his career
Before moving to FC Koln, Wirtz played for his father - who was the team's coach at the time, for his local team SV Grün-Weiß Brauweiler.
Speaking on his father, he said: “He was [also] my first coach. He was more hard on me, but I think that helped me a little bit.”
Not only his father, but together with his mother, they had pushed their young son out of his comfort zone as they recognised his natural footballing talent early on.
He said: “This [choice to move] was at the age of six or seven. Even then I was choosing between Bayer Leverkusen and Cologne. I was practising at both clubs because my parents told me to do that, just to try it because I was a very shy little boy. I didn't want to go there and meet the new guys or new teams, I just wanted to stay at my old team with my friends."
""I went to Cologne and they did everything to convince me to join them. It is better than in just a small club - they have better coaches, better teams, so it was important. I think I made this choice to do it, although I didn't want to do it really. Then, after nine and a half years, my step to Leverkusen. I think it was the most important thing I did.” "Florian Wirtz on his development.
Virgil Van Dijk and Mo Salah texted him about the club before joining
When Arne Slot took over from Jurgen Klopp last season, the Dutchman opted to not change the wheels of a winning formula.
It contributed to Liverpool winning the Premier League title, so Slot and the hierarchy drastically changing the team personnel's over the course of one summer was a huge surprise.
Before Aleksander Isak, Wirtz was the record signing that was attracting interest from major clubs around Europe - yet he chose Merseyside as his next home. It was a careful, calculated risk to challenge himself considering the 2026 World Cup on the horizon.
He said: “I thought, 'this [Liverpool FC] is the right place to get better and a bigger player'. The club is so big and the team won the Premier League last year. I had very good meetings with the manager before I joined and a few players contacted me. Virgil [van Dijk], Mo [Salah] as well, sent me a message. They were not begging me to come but just tried to give me a feeling about.
"Virgil said he would be happy if I come, and maybe I can help the team to get even better than they were last year. These are things you like to hear and helps you to decide in the end. I am still happy that I made this decision, even when the start wasn't that easy.”
Having the right people around him helped get through a difficult start
Wirtz endured a miserable start to life in England. It certainly didn't help that Liverpool's misfortunes were piling up.
Despite winning their opening 5 league games, the Reds' title defence quickly curtailed after winning just once in their next 7 domestic matches after that.
He reflected: "I was very excited when I came and wanted to be an instant success. It didn't come like this. I just had to stay strong in my mind and keep believing in myself that at one point it has to click. I was telling myself: 'You did so good in Germany, you can't just forget how to play football here.'
"It was not completely different football. It was not easy always to have the confidence on the pitch, but I think I dealt really well with it and my people around me helped."
The relationships on and off the pitch that have shaped him
The already existent relationship with Jeremie Frimpong, where the duo played together at Leverkusen, was mentioned in a joking manner during the interview.
However, the more interesting mention was his other counterpart who joined from the Bundesliga; Hugo Ekitike.
The Frenchman joined Liverpool from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer as well, and Wirtz had nothing but praise for the striker:
"“It's nice to play with players like Hugo [Ekitike]. He's a great guy - a big personality, a good friend already to me. We know each other from the Bundesliga - we played a few times against each other and exchanged shirts already.""Wirtz on Hugo Ekitike
"He is a fantastic player and even surprised me when I first saw him here training and playing because I didn't know he was that good. It is so much fun to play with him because he knows how you move on the pitch and how you link up with each other."
The lesser known fact is that the former Leverkusen star has a sister who plays in Frauen-Bundesliga, which is the top flight in women's German football..
“My parents always say I was very shy and always hiding behind my sisters. I was one of 10. I am the youngest. My sister [Juliane] plays for Werder Bremen. She also played for Brauweiler, Cologne and Leverkusen. We played at the same time for three clubs. I am very proud of her - she is doing good. I'm happy for her because she is having a very good season with her team.”
"I always try to watch her games if I can. It's nice we have the same ambitions and the same way to think about football. I'm happy she is a footballer so we have something in common and it's nice.”