Former Tottenham and Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has offered a glowing endorsement of Liverpool midfielder Florian Wirtz, sensationally comparing the German star to Spurs and Real Madrid legend Luka Modric.

Berbatov’s comments come amid increasing scrutiny over Wirtz’s start to life at Anfield following his record breaking £116m summer move from Bayer Leverkusen.

Berbatov urges patience with Florian Wirtz and compares him to Luka Modric

Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, the Bulgarian star urged patience for the 22-year-old, whose initial spell in the Premier League has seen him fail to register a goal or assist in domestic competition.

He said: “I love him. He’s a fantastic player. He will be unbelievable, trust me. Hopefully, he will be patient. 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.”

Berbatov went on to compare the German with Luka Modric. He defended Wirtz’s relatively slight build, often cited as a concern for the Premier League’s physicality.

“The way he sees football, how he...