Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka has backed Florian Wirtz to become a star at Liverpool. And the Black Cats has given his former Bayer Leverkusen team-mate the nod over Chelsea's Cole Palmer when asked to choose between the pair.

Xhaka and Wirtz were two integral figures for Xabi Alonso in the 23/24 campaign when Leverkusen went the entire Bundesliga season unbeaten to win their first-ever German title before finishing as Europa League runners-up to Atalanta.

The former Arsenal captain moved to Sunderland around the same time German made his £116m switch to Anfield and asked to rank his former colleague alongside Chelsea's Palmer and Manchester United man Bruno Fernandes by Sky Sports, the Switzerland international selected the Reds' No.7.

"Yeah, [it's] between Palmer and Flo Wirtz, let’s...