Dimitar Berbatov
Dimitar Berbatov was a Premier League cult hero, impressing at Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Fulham during his time in England. Known for his silky style and immaculate first touch, the Bulgarian retired in 2019 but is still a presence in football, occasionally popping up to give his thoughts on the current era.
Having also spent time at Bayer Leverkusen before making the switch to English football, it should be no surprise that Berbatov has been keeping a careful eye on Florian Wirtz, who also played for the German outfit. The young midfielder completed a £116 million transfer to Liverpool in the summer, but has failed to hit the ground running.
Despite this, Berbatov has insisted that the 22-year-old will come good. What's more, he even compared Wirtz to iconic former Spurs teammate Luka Modric.
Berbatov Asks For Patience With Florian Wirtz at Liverpool
Berbatov was speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast when Wirtz came up as a discussion point. The German has yet to score the Liverpool, and has not registered a single goal contribution in nine Premier League outings so far. Amid his poor form, there are concerns about how suitable he is for Arne Slot's side.
Brushing aside any fears over the player's quality, Berbatov 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 played with many great players across his career, but Modric would have been among the very best of them. They shared the pitch together just once, actually, as the striker left for Man Utd the same summer the Croatian arrived at Tottenham. Even so, the 2018 Ballon d'Or winner left a big impression.
It will comfort Liverpool fans, then, to learn that Berbatov believes Wirtz can be the Premier League's next Modric. He explained how his technical ability can make up for any perceived physical weakness:
"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***ing monster. It’s unbelievable. So give him time. I think he’s going to be unbelievable for Liverpool."
Berbatov went on to compare his struggles with Wirtz’s current form at Liverpool. He spoke about his early periods at Leverkusen and Spurs, as he too needed time to adapt to these new environments:
"The same process was happening when I went to Leverkusen. In the beginning, it didn’t work out quite well. I needed to be patient. In Spurs, again, new environment, again, new people, new language, new everything. Again, the things were taking slowly to happen for me. I was thinking, maybe I need to go back.
"But 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'. 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."
If Wirtz can settle in England, he certainly has the potential to be as good as or perhaps even better than both Berbatov and Modric. However, it feels as though we are some way from seeing that just yet.