'Play just like how he did': Merson names the player Florian Wirtz should be modelling his game on at Liverpool
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Florian Wirtz is still waiting for his first Liverpool goal since securing a big-money move during the summer transfer window.
The German arrived from Bayer Leverkusen for an eye-watering sum which could reach as much as £116m.
A lot has been expected of Wirtz, who lit up the Bundesliga with Leverkusen and has been billed as one of the most exciting creative players in Europe.
However, it has not been easy for Wirtz to make his mark at Liverpool.
Adapting to a new club is not always a quick process and the 22-year-old is still finding his feet.
Despite that, Wirtz arguably had his best game for Liverpool in midweek against Atletico Madrid, and there are signs that he could be ready to truly emerge as a key player in the coming matches.
And according to pundit Paul Merson, Wirtz should switch position and model himself on a Manchester City player in order to do this.
Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Some of the difficulty for Wirtz has been that Liverpool have not played with someone of his skillset much in recent years.
The Germany international is very much a number 10, and it has taken some time for him to find how that translates to Liverpool.
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As Wirtz tries to find his feet playing centrally, there have been calls to shift him to a wide left position.
Merson is one of those suggesting this, claiming that City’s £55m winger Jeremy Doku would be a good player for Wirtz to try and emulate in Saturday’s Merseyside Derby.
“What I’d like to also see is Florian Wirtz playing on the left,” the former Arsenal man writes for Sportskeeda.
Wirtz should play just like how Jeremy Doku did against Manchester United.
“But this change to the left will give him a better chance of shining in the next game.”
It feels unlikely that Wirtz will ever play a similar game to Doku.