The Athletic writer namechecks one Liverpool player who ‘will feature heavily’ on Asian tour | OneFootball

Liverpool are currently in Hong Kong on the first leg of their pre-season tour to Asia, and one player has been reliably namechecked to ‘feature heavily’ in the Far East over the next few days.

The upcoming friendlies against AC Milan (on Saturday) and Yokohama F Marinos (30 July) will give Arne Slot two more opportunities to assess his squad as the return to Premier League action looms ever larger, with several youngsters and newcomers hoping to make an impression on the Reds boss.

Of the new faces who’ve made the trip, the closest attention is likely to be on club-record signing Florian Wirtz following his headline-grabbing £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen last month.

Wirtz expected to ‘feature heavily’ for Liverpool in Asia

The German playmaker made his first Liverpool appearance on Sunday when the English champions defeated Stoke 5-0 in a behind-closed-doors friendly at the AXA Training Centre, and fans hoping to see more of him in the Far East are set to get their wish.

In the latest instalment of The Athletic‘s Transfer DealSheet, Gregg Evans wrote that the 22-year-old ‘will feature heavily’ during the Reds’ tour to Asia over the next few days, following on from his unofficial LFC debut at the weekend.

Image via Liverpool FC on YouTube

All eyes will be on Wirtz in his first season at Liverpool

Wirtz is set to command plenty of attention throughout the season following his big-money arrival in England, and it’ll be fascinating to see how he integrates into Slot’s line-up.

In the friendly against Stoke, he played behind a front three of Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez and Rio Ngumoha, and that’s the position he’ll likely take up for the most part in the upcoming campaign, although he’s also capable of playing out wide and at centre-forward if required.

While the Liverpool head coach will already be familiar with what most of his squad can offer, he’ll surely want to give the German and his fellow newcomers plenty of game-time in the Far East so that he can see how well they integrate into the side and how likely they are to gel quickly with their new teammates.

Wirtz will be expected to hit the ground running at Anfield after arriving for a club-record fee, and if he comes close to replicating the impact that he had at Leverkusen (57 goals and 65 assists in 197 games), it won’t take him long to leave Reds fans besotted with his qualities.

We can’t wait to see him action against Milan at the weekend and Yokohama the following Wednesday!