Florian Wirtz has been backed by former Liverpool star Steve McManaman to thrive under Andoni Iraola this season.
Wirtz endured a difficult first campaign at Anfield following his £116million move from Bayer Leverkusen.
He scored seven goals and provided eight assists as Liverpool struggled, losing 20 games in all competitions and finishing fifth in the Premier League.
Now working under Iraola, McManaman believes Wirtz’s style suits the new head coach and has challenged the 23-year-old to show his true potential at Liverpool.
“In terms of who I’m most looking forward to seeing in a Liverpool shirt this season, at the moment it’s the players we brought in last year,” McManaman told Seven, powered by Ladbrokes.
“You know, I was really excited with the Florian Wirtz signing, and they’ve had a bit of bad fortune with the likes of Hugo Ekitike, Alexander Isak and Giovanni Leoni being out with a bad injury at such a young age.
“But it’s people like Florian who I’m really looking forward to seeing more of. When he was in the Bundesliga with Leverkusen, I really enjoyed watching him; he’s my style of player.
“He does some lovely things on the ball, he just never did enough of them last year. I’m hoping that now he’s coming into his second season in the Premier League, he’ll really strengthen up.
“I don’t necessarily mean physically, but just all-round, I’m hoping he’ll get savvy to the Premier League, its strength and its intensity. I’d like to think he can put a mark on the season, because I love the way he plays football.”
McManaman added: “I really liked Andoni Iraola before he came to Liverpool, to be honest. I’ve always liked his style of football and thought he did a brilliant job at Bournemouth – no one can argue that.
“He stepped down from that role and was speaking to Bayer Leverkusen and quite close to AC Milan for a while, so I think Liverpool felt if they were going to get him, this summer was the right time to make their move.
“You know, you don’t like seeing a manager losing their job, as Arne Slot did, but if they thought Andoni was a step up, and that he’d give the club a new lease of life, playing a different style of football – a more attacking style which the fans demanded – then you’d have to say it was the right appointment.”
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