Liverpool and Arne Slot given Florian Wirtz guarantee by former Man Utd star

Former Premier League forward Dimitar Berbatov has expressed his confidence in Florian Wirtz's potential to succeed at Liverpool. Drawing on his own experiences from his time at Tottenham and Manchester United, the retired striker emphasised the need for patience with the £116million summer recruit.

Wirtz was included in the starting line-up for Liverpool's first four Premier League matches of the new season, but after failing to make a significant impact on the scoreline, he was subsequently benched by manager Arne Slot. Despite this, he has been a regular starter in every Champions League match and has made three appearances as a substitute.

Although the German international is yet to find the back of the net for his new team, he did contribute two assists in Liverpool's recent European clash against Eintracht Frankfurt. His performances have kept him in the spotlight, leading to a discussion about him during Rio Ferdinand's conversation with Berbatov on the 'Rio Ferdinand presents' YouTube channel.

When asked about Wirtz, Berbatov responded: "By the way, I love him. He's a fantastic player. He will be unbelievable, trust me."

Reflecting on his own career, he added: "In my case, I was again having doubts. The same process was happening when I went to Leverkusen. The same thing. Because in Leverkusen, in the beginning, it didn't work out quite well. I needed to be patient.

"But again, doubts. Now in Spurs, again, new environment, again, new people, new language, new everything. Again, the things were taking slowly to happen for me.

"And again, I was thinking, maybe I need to go back. You know, that negative thinking... Maybe I need to go back, or Leverkusen, or somewhere else. It's not working here. But that negative thinking that people have most of the time, which is horrendous. It's not a good way of doing.

"But then, at the same time, when I was thinking like this, then my other, not personality, but my other me, was telling me, 'no, no, no, no. You see what happened in Leverkusen'.

"Just be patient. Keep working. You have the quality. You deserve to be here. You wanted something to change. Now you're here. Now be stubborn. Be patient. Keep working. Not sitting. It's not going to fall like this on your lap. Work. Smart or hard. Try to know when, which when, and work. And it will happen.

"So I was motivating myself. At the same time, I tried to sabotage myself. And you basically want to go to your safe place, your safe environment. But you need to have that motivation and that ambition in you as well to overcome the fear. So my ambition was bigger than my fear."

After sharing such personal insights about conquering his own challenges, Berbatov clearly empathizes with Wirtz, though he remains optimistic the player will find his feet at Anfield. "Hopefully, he will be patient," he said.

"Hopefully, he'll have good people around him, agent, family, whatever. Hopefully, the coach sees his quality like everybody sees him. I'm sure that everybody sees his quality, and they'll give him that time that he needs to fit into the team. And I guarantee you, he's going to be a success.

"The way he sees football, how he looks for the space, how he knows how to position himself, the touches on the ball, the improvisation, the eye for the pass and for the goals. Of course, someone can argue that his physique is not that great for the Premier League.

"But then you can easily see the great players of his position, like Modric, also the same build. Modric. F------ monster. It's unbelievable. So give him time. I think he's going to be unbelievable for Liverpool."