Jamie Carragher makes Florian Wirtz U-turn by insisting £116m star ‘can get to Kevin De Bruyne’s level’ – and claims Hugo Ekitike is better than prolific former Liverpool team-mates

Jamie Carragher has performed a U-turn on his criticism of Florian Wirtz, insisting the Liverpool midfielder is a ‘special player’ just a couple of months after he doubted the German.

Wirtz had a slow start to life at Liverpool after his £116million move in the summer, not registering a goal or assist in the Premier League until the start of December, but he has now started to pick up in terms of his form.

He has now scored four goals in his last seven league matches, while also netting against Qarabag in the Champions League last week.

Carragher had suggested that Wirtz wasn’t a ‘great’ player because of the time he took to adapt, saying in October: ‘If I’m being honest, if I think of the great foreign signings – Sami Hyppia, Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Luis Suarez, Didi Hamann – they all hit the ground running.

‘I can’t think of many, who had an average, poor start. I’m not talking seven games by the way but if you’re getting to Christmas and January and being like, “Oh”. History doesn’t tell me that foreign signings come into England take a year.’

Now, though, he has changed his mind. Speaking on Sky Sports on Monday, the pundit sang Wirtz’s praises, comparing him to two Premier League greats.

He praised the German and Hugo Ekitike (right), insisting Wirtz can get to the same level as Kevin De Bruyne

‘Wirtz is getting better all the time,’ Carragher said. ‘Eventually, the mantle has to be passed on, and there is no doubt the lad has real quality.

‘The Premier League has lost Kevin De Bruyne, [but] we have gained Wirtz. We are talking about special players coming into our league. I have watched him a lot and thought about whether he can get to De Bruyne’s level. When I watch Wirtz, I think he could be lovely on the eye like David Silva, but he has almost a bit of both.

‘I’m not sure if he will get the numbers De Bruyne got. But, talking about a slow start… one of the games was City away and Gary Neville said he looked like a boy out there – now he has City at Anfield [this weekend]. He is confident. He has gone from a little boy, and it’s a great opportunity to shove those words down Neville’s throat.’

And Wirtz wasn’t the only player Carragher was full of praise for. He also suggested that Hugo Ekitike is a better player than Reds icon Fernando Torres, who played for the club at the same time as Carragher.

Ekitike has enjoyed a fine start to life at Liverpool after his own big-money move in the summer – arriving for £79m from Frankfurt. He has scored 15 goals so far this season after making the No9 shirt his own amid an injury to Alexander Isak.

He netted twice in his side’s 4-1 win over Newcastle at the weekend, again showing off his fine partnership with Wirtz, and will look to keep up his impressive form for the rest of the season as Arne Slot’s side fight to finish inside the Champions League places.

It’s early days for the Frenchman in his Liverpool career, but, according to Carragher, he is already better than Torres, who scored 81 goals in 142 games for the Reds between 2007 and 2011.

‘It’s exciting because you are looking to the future of what the team can be like,’ Carragher said. ‘Eventually it has to move on from [Mohamed] Salah and [Virgil] van Dijk.

Ekitike, meanwhile, was branded a ‘better player’ than Carragher’s former Reds team-mate Fernando Torres (second left)

‘For the manager… last week we spoke about hope – it gives you hope seeing the new signings playing as they are. I think both like to play in the left channel, but when you think why you buy players like Wirtz… deep blocks – you need a player with magic feet.

‘I think Ekitike is a better player than Torres. He may not get as many goals, but Torres was made by [Steven] Gerrard at Liverpool. Ekitike wont reply on Eirtz as much, but, if the combination keeps going, he could get the goals Torres got.’