Florian Wirtz reminds me of Luka Modric - look how Real Madrid's 'worst signing' worked out

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

And 2001 treble-winner Emile Heskey also likened the Germany international to Philippe Coutinho as he outlined what Wirtz needs to do to establish himself as a key man for Arne Slot.Wirtz has started six of the Reds' nine Premier League games since moving for £116m from Bayer Leverkusen in June, but last season's Bundesliga player of the year has struggled to hit the heights so far, with Slot's team going through a difficult patch that has seen them lose four successive games in the top-flight and six of their last seven in all competitions.Heskey, who won the FA Cup, UEFA Cup and League Cup under Gerard Houllier in 2001, says Wirtz should look at how Modric turned it around at Madrid following his move from Tottenham in 2012.READ MORE: Arne Slot to make major Liverpool changes as Ryan Gravenberch decision weighed upThe Croatian international, who now plays for AC Milan, was voted as 'worst signing of the summer' by influential Spanish publication Marca in December 2012 before he went on to establish himself as an integral part of the operation in the Spanish capital.Modric left Madrid in the summer having lifted four La Liga titles and six Champions League trophies and Heskey, speaking exclusively to the ECHO via Dream Vegas, says Wirtz is a similar type of player to the now 40-year-old.Heskey says: "One thing I will say is we’ve seen this before with one of the ones that I always point to, Luka Modric."When he went to Real Madrid, he was voted the worst signing, and then later on he was winning the Ballon d’Or (2018), and was one of the best players to ever play there consistently."I think Wirtz is similar, in that he’s just got to knuckle down, get his head down, and work hard. He’ll get there because we’ve seen it with the stats on his running."We just need the technical side of it.

We’ve seen it time and time again with him. He finds these little pockets."Coutinho, I always go towards him because, again, he was one of those little tricky players that finds those little gaps, finds those little pockets where you can work within, turns, and starts driving at players.

He looks like a similar sort of player."But again, he’s got to get up to speed and understand the intensity of the Premier League and what it means to be playing for Liverpool."I think one big thing the manager can do to help Wirtz is getting your arm around him, making sure that you reassure him that he is the man, he is the main man. He is still in the plan and he’s still doing what I want him to do."Because at times, if you go missing as a manager or as that mentor to the player, that player can feel lost."As long as you're still backing him and still with him, he’ll come good because we’ve seen the technical ability and everything else."Liverpool return to action when they entertain Aston Villa on Saturday evening.