For those unfamiliar with the term "007", it has evolved into a popular insulting phrase within the "troll culture" of football social media.
It refers to a newly signed player who fails to score in their first seven consecutive games for a club. Its appeal is plain to see: it is concise in form and echoes the image of the fictional spy James Bond.
Florian Wirtz has made a slow start to the Premier League season and has become the latest target of this label. The player, signed by Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer for £116 million, has yet to score or provide an assist in his first six appearances in England’s top flight. His away match against Chelsea on Saturday will be his seventh Premier League outing for Liverpool – a chance to break his duck.
Trying to reason with those who use "007" seriously is like attempting to persuade Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim to abandon his 3-4-2-1 formation: it’s a waste of time.
That said, explaining why "007" is so absurd still holds merit.
Tracing the etymology of an internet meme can lead you down a dark, lonely, and quite frankly, odd path. The origin of "007" remains unclear, but it was German Sky Sports – an outlet that really should have known better – that thrust it into wider public view.
In August 2021, Sky Sports aired a photo of Jadon Sancho wearing a photoshopped Bond-style tuxedo, emblazoned with the "007" label. This was a mockery of Sancho’s tough start at Manchester United, following his £73 million move from Borussia Dortmund to the Red Devils earlier that summer.
Sancho’s early struggles lingered, but history shows that many players who failed to score in their first seven Premier League games have gone on to become renowned figures in the league.
Seventy-five strikers have met the "007" threshold (defined by starting in at least four of their first seven games), and the top 20 among them, ranked by their total Premier League goals, are listed below.
If social media had existed in 1999 – the year Thierry Henry, then just 21 years old (a few months younger than Wirtz is now), joined Arsenal from Juventus – Henry would almost certainly have been subjected to online abuse too.
Yet he went on to achieve extraordinary success: 175 Premier League goals, 74 assists, and he became the all-time top scorer for the North London club.
Further down the list, we find Matheus Cunha. In 2023, after moving to Wolverhampton Wanderers from Atlético Madrid, he initially struggled to adapt. Having overcome those early difficulties, Cunha eventually shone at Molineux Stadium. He said: "This is the best league in the world, so adapting is harder and takes more time, but I’m much more confident now and feel more settled."
Adapting to the high-intensity nature of the Premier League is a frequently cited challenge for new arrivals – and the data backs this up. Tracking data from SkillCorner reveals that the Premier League sees more high-intensity runs (at speeds exceeding 20 km/h) per game than the equivalent top-flight leagues in Spain, Germany, and Italy.
Early signs suggest Wirtz is indeed going through a tough adaptation phase at Liverpool. He is often dispossessed by opposition full-backs tracking back – situations where he would likely have more space to operate if he were still playing in the Bundesliga.
After Wirtz’s official debut in Liverpool’s 4-2 win over Bournemouth in August, Liverpool manager Arne Slot commented: "I don’t think he expected to cramp up in so many places."
