Granit Xhaka claims Liverpool summer signing possesses rare quality as number 10

Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka has spoken very highly of Liverpool star Florian Wirtz and his mentality as a player.

Wirtz has faced a lot of criticism recently amid his slow start at Liverpool.

The 22-year-old joined Liverpool for a reported £ 116million in the summer, so there are understandably a lot of expectations around him to hit the ground running.

Unfortunately for him, he has yet to register any goals or assists for Liverpool despite already featuring in nine matches in all competitions.

However, Xhaka, who spent a couple of seasons playing alongside Wirtz, clearly has a lot of faith in the young midfielder.

“He’s unbelievable, not just with the ball but also without the ball,” the Switzerland international told Sky Sports when speaking about Wirtz.

“I (haven’t) seen many number 10s on his level with the ball and without the ball.

“At his age, to have the mentality, to put in the work day by day before and after the training, to be angry if you don’t win in the training session, this is Florian Wirtz.

“I was with him for two years, and I know how much he can bring to the Premier League, hopefully not against us, Sunderland, but the rest of the year, I wish him the best because he deserves it.”

Wirtz is still young, and he may just need some time to adjust to Arne Slot’s system at Liverpool.

In addition to that, while he has yet to make a direct goal contribution, he has still created 11 chances for his teammates so far in league games, the third-highest in the team after Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah.

It is also not just Wirtz that needs to adapt; his teammates need to adjust to playing with a number 10 as well, having previously played with a 4-3-3 structure rather than a 4-2-3-1 in the past few seasons.