Florian Wirtz has singled out one participant within the Liverpool squad who has significantly impressed him forward of the brand new season.
The Premier League champions face FA Cup winners Crystal Palace within the Group Defend at Wembley on Sunday, a fixture seen as the standard season curtain raiser.
Wirtz has had loads of time to settle in to his new environment, having accomplished a British file £116m transfer to Anfield again on June 20.
And it’s one other new arrival who has caught his eye forward of the 2025-26 marketing campaign.
Chatting with The Times, the German was filled with reward for striker Hugo Ekitike, who joined from Eintracht Frankfurt for £79m final month.
‘He’s a very good participant,’ Wirtz stated. ‘I loved watching him at Frankfurt and I used to be actually glad that he determined to come back to us.
Florian Wirtz reveals the ‘actually good’ Liverpool participant who has impressed him in pre-season
Wirtz was filled with reward for Hugo Ekitike (centre), who signed for the membership final month
‘Within the coaching classes already, he went properly and in addition within the sport we had some combos that have been good. I’m actually glad that I can play with him.
Ekitike made his debut in Liverpool’s 3-1 pleasant win over Yokohama per week in the past earlier than making his Anfield bow in opposition to Athletic Bilbao on Monday, the place he registered an help.
‘It’s good that we now have a couple of gamers that come on the similar time, so we are able to join a bit bit and speak to one another about how we take care of it. That helps once you come to a brand new crew.’
‘I got here [to Liverpool] as a result of I assumed I might match on this crew [straight away] and I’m having fun with enjoying with these gamers.
‘Each time it’s getting a bit bit higher, so I’m proud of how it’s going. I am actually having fun with the primary weeks.’
‘I’ve not performed a match within the Premier League, however I’m wanting ahead to it and that’s the reason I got here. To be sincere I do not know [how it will be].
There shall be some variations to the German league, however that can also be one thing I can be taught and make me higher so I’m actually wanting ahead to it.
‘They inform me it is extra intense and extra bodily, each participant is de facto robust, actually quick. That’s what everyone is telling me — and I am conscious of that.’
Ekitike (proper) and Wirtz (left) are Liverpool’s two greatest signings of the summer time to date
Wirtz has been given the long-lasting No 7 shirt at Liverpool quantity, inheriting the eye-catching strip from Luis Diaz.
He arrives from Germany with a giant popularity after enjoying a key position in Leverkusen’s Bundesliga triumph the season earlier than final, a marketing campaign by which additionally they went undefeated.
