Mr Woolas said: "Liverpool has been through a traumatic time.
"I have had three meetings with the Liverpool leadership in the last three months, to discuss issues such as the regeneration of the Docklands, in the north of the city.
"It is too early to tell whether it has recovered. There is also the question of its relationship with the likes of Sefton."
The last point is a reference to the requirement for any city-region enjoying new spending powers to prove its leadership is accountable to voters.
Yesterday, Mr Woolas dropped the clearest hint yet that devolution would only be offered where there was a directly-elected mayor.
He said: "If you want more financial and economic powers over money spent in the area then you have to show you have strong and visible leadership."
Pointing to the 12 mayors already in place across England, he added: "We think the experience of those 12 is good. We are very much pushing councils to consider that idea.
"The person in the street has to know who is in power so that person can be held to account, rather than a council leader from just one ward."
Liverpool, along with the other seven "core cities", has put together a business case for extra powers which will feed into a government White Paper in October.
One study suggested such a shake-up could deliver a £600m annual budget to Manchester, but only if it was given the power to hike business rates.
The amayorforliverpool campaign is already under way to collect signatures to trigger a referendum on an elected figurehead for the city.
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