Florian Wirtz has expressed his delight at being team-mates with Hugo Ekitike after having been Bundesliga rivals last season. Wirtz's Bayer Leverkusen competed with Ekitike's Eintracht Frankfurt but now the pair have joined forces at Anfield. Ekitike, who cost an initial £69m, is currently Liverpool's second most expensive signing this summer, following Wirtz.
Both players made their Anfield debuts against Athletic Bilbao on Monday night. While Wirtz wowed the home crowd with his silky passing ability, Ekitike got the fans going with his movement and pace, assisting Mo Salah's first half goal.
"He's a really good player," Wirtz commented. "I enjoyed watching him at Frankfurt and I was really happy that he decided to come to us. "In the training sessions things already went well, and also in the game we had some combinations that were good. So yeah, I'm really happy that I can play with him."
In addition to Ekitike, Wirtz sees his role at Liverpool as creating opportunities for his team-mates as they aim for consecutive Premier League titles. "Of course, the big challenge is to take the title again, and that is the most difficult thing," he admitted. "But I just try to create chances, and also work against the ball because I can also run a lot.
"So I'll try to bring this in the team, and then with the ball, I hope I can make the team better by bringing my team-mates into better situations."
Wirtz joins his former Leverkusen team-mate Jeremie Frimpong, speedy left-back Milos Kerkez, French forward Ekitike and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who agreed his move last summer, as the new faces at Anfield ahead of the upcoming season.
Meanwhile Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, Caoimhin Kelleher and Jarell Quansah all departed from a club still grieving over the tragic loss of Diogo Jota last month.
However, Wirtz believes that the influx of new players arriving simultaneously is actually beneficial.
"Yeah, I think it's good that we have a few players that come in at the same time," said Wirtz. "We can connect a little bit and talk to each other about how we feel, and it helps us all coming into the team."