Bitter Bayern Munich chief taunts Liverpool over 'disastrous' season

Florian Wirtz is struggling at Liverpool because Arne Slot broke a promise to him and their other players are greedy, according to a Bayern Munich chief.

Uli Hoeness - Bayern's controversial, firebrand honorary president - says the Reds have too many 'superstars' who want to hog the ball.

He adds that 'poor Florian Wirtz' has been let down by Slot, who reportedly promised him the number 10 role and to be a key attacking influence.

Of course, Hoeness, 73, has an axe to grind - he was among the posse of Bayern executives who failed to entice Wirtz over the summer before Liverpool snapped him up for £116million.

'They spent £500 million and are having a disastrous season,' Hoeness said, via Bild.

'In my opinion, that's because they only have superstars. I always say: Liverpool will soon have to play with five balls because the stars won't give up any of them.

'Poor Florian Wirtz, he doesn't even get a ball because [Mohamed] Salah and [Dominik] Szoboszlai and all the others want to play with their own.'

He also said, via Fabrizio Romano: 'Slot promised Wirtz something that he's now clearly not keeping: building the new team around him with no10 shirt. That was rubbish.

'He got the number 7 shirt, and the new team is clearly not playing around Florian Wirtz.

'I feel terribly sorry for Florian Wirtz. Everything went through him in Leverkusen. In Liverpool, he gets five passes in a half – and if he loses the ball twice, he gets a bad rating.'

Hoeness was informed over the phone by Wirtz's father, Hans-Joachim, that his 22-year-old son was snubbing Bayern in the summer.

Wirtz wanted the challenge of playing in the Premier League after a successful stint at Bayer Leverkusen and so far it has proved to be just that: a challenge.

His performance in the 2-0 win at West Ham came as great encouragement but it has been a slow start for the Germany international, who is still without a goal or assist in the Premier League.

He shone on Sunday but he has been forced to be versatile, often playing on the left wing.

And he is not the fulcrum of Liverpool's attacks, only getting 521 touches in the Premier League this season - the ninth-most in the team and fewer than half the total of Virgil van Dijk and Szoboszlai.

Bayern are jam-packed with big-name stars, also, and were said to be shocked when Wirtz turned down the well-trodden path from lesser Bundesliga club to the Bavarian behemoths.

'FC Bayern is one of the absolute top clubs in Europe and the world. Our appeal among fans, but also among players, is enormous,' chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen said saltily in the summer.

‘The fact that not every player will end up with us is simply part of the package; it's the same for other top clubs.'

He then torched Liverpool with a little dig at their exclusion from the Club World Cup. 'But everyone knows: with FC Bayern, you can win everything every year, you're involved in every competition – the upcoming Club World Cup is a good example of that,' he said.

'Just look at which clubs are represented there – and, most of all, which (clubs) aren't. The best European clubs are competing there – including FC Bayern.'