Paul Merson urges Florian Wirtz to model his game on £55m Man City star 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.

Florian Wirtz told to be more like Jeremy Doku

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. “It will give him more space to create problems.”

“At the moment, it feels like he’s a bit claustrophobic in midfield. Wirtz should play just like how Jeremy Doku did against Manchester United. If he does that, it will be hard for teams to pick him up.

“I have no doubt that Wirtz will eventually come good wherever he plays because he’s top-drawer,” Merson adds. “But this change to the left will give him a better chance of shining in the next game.”

Paul Merson calls for right-back change

It feels unlikely that Wirtz will ever play a similar game to Doku. One is a creative technician who loves to look for clever passes, the other is an out-and-out winger who prefers beating his man with pace.

Either way, that is not the end of Merson’s suggestions for Arne Slot ahead of Derby day.

The Premier League winner has also urged Slot to make a change at right-back, bringing Conor Bradley back in to deal with the threat posed by Jack Grealish.

“I would also choose Conor Bradley at right-back because of Grealish,” says Merson. “If you play Jeremie Frimpong there, he’s not a good defender and he bombs forward all the time. So I think Bradley is the best choice at right-back in this game.

“Arne Slot will have another headache on the other side, where Milos Kerkez has failed to hit the ground running. Not only did Andy Robertson replace him in the first half vs Burnley, but the Scot also scored against Atletico in the Champions League. There’s just so many options available for Liverpool and Slot will have to ensure he keeps all of them happy.”