'Everything I've seen': Wayne Rooney says Liverpool have a 'superstar' forward who should play instead of Isak

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Rousing the Kop or go back to LFC Live.

And while Isak may have the upper hand in some respects, Premier League legend Wayne Rooney has outlined why he’d actually pick Ekitike instead.Photo by Clive Mason/Getty ImagesWayne Rooney backing Hugo Ekitike over Alexander IsakBecause of Isak failing to have any kind of pre-season with Newcastle this summer, it has so far looked as though Slot is planning to rotate these two players.However, when the 26-year-old is fully up to speed, he will surely be expecting to start virtually every game.READ MORE: Jason McAteer surprised over what Liverpool boss Arne Slot seems to have said about Jeremie FrimpongHaving been signed for a big fee and had a great start to his Liverpool career, Ekitike may also feel the same way. And according to Rooney, the former Eintracht Frankfurt star should have the shirt for now.“I think the sending off to Ekitike was bigger than people think,” he told The Wayne Rooney Show.

“I think he’s a superstar, he can affect Liverpool in so many different ways. Obviously they’ve got Isak but I think that loss was massive.”“Ekitike one million per cent is in competition with Isak,” Rooney later added.

“Isak is proven in the Premier League that he can do that. Everything I’ve seen at the moment Isak hasn’t been able to do that so quickly, I’m sure when he gets fit that will change.”How Liverpool can play with both Isak and EkitikeAlthough there is a feeling from the outside that Slot will be choosing one of these two players as his regular starter and the other as a substitute, we’re not sure it’s quite so straightforward.Having spent huge money on Isak and Ekitike – as well as Florian Wirtz – we think the Liverpool head coach still wants to get all three players in the team together.In our opinion, this can be achieved by lining up with a four-pronged attack of Wirtz starting from the left, Ekitike and Isak more centrally and Mohamed Salah on the right.Wirtz can then drift infield, as Ekitike or Isak drift out, always leaving two players centrally and one on either wing.Once Isak is fully up to speed, we’re certain that Slot will put whatever plan he has into action.