John Aldridge claims Florian Wirtz ‘reminds’ him of ex-Red who also broke British transfer record | OneFootball

John Aldridge has claimed Florian Wirtz reminds him of former Liverpool ace Peter Beardsley.

Wirtz was signed by the Premier League champions from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer in a deal worth £116m and netted his first goal for the Reds against Wolves on Saturday in what was his 23rd appearance for the club.

Alridge insists the German ‘can build’ on his promising performance against Wolves while admitting the 22-year-old reminds him of Beardsley who was signed by Liverpool for a then record fee of £1.9m in 1987.

“That first goal for Florian Wirtz was going to come, wasn’t it? I’ve watched him for some time. He’s a player,” Aldridge wrote in the Liverpool Echo (via Rousing The Kop).

“He reminds me of Peter Beardsley. He’s bright, he’s smart, but he needed that goal. It was playing on his mind. It’ll be a relief to him and he can build on it now for sure.”

Saturday’s performance was Wirtz’s best yet in a Red shirt. It may have came against the Premier League’s bottom club but that doesn’t matter.

Our No.7 needed to break his duck and the hope is that he can now push on and prove why Arne Slot and Co. were willing to spend so much money to bring him the club.

The German glides past players effortlessly and is appearing to now be forming a strong relationship with Hugo Ekitike in attack.

The majority of Slot’s squad have struggled for form this term which has resulted in Wirtz taking longer than expected to settle but he will be eager to impress once again against Leeds United on New Year’s Day.

Beardsley won two league titles and an FA Cup during his time at Anfield and we’re hoping Wirtz can achieve similar success during his time on Merseyside.