Liverpool legend Steve McManaman has questioned whether Norwich City talent Todd Cantwell is ready to join one of the Premier League big boys, following transfer speculation linking the midfielder with the Reds.
The former England winger works as a regular Premier League pundit and has taken note of England Under-21 international Cantwell being linked with world and European champions Liverpool.
McManaman scored 66 goals in 364 games for the Merseyside club between 1990 and 1999, before joining Real Madrid on a free transfer, scoring 14 goals in 158 games for the Spanish giants, winning the Champions League twice before returning to England to close out his career at Manchester City.
Cantwell impressed as the Canaries were narrowly beaten 1-0 by champions-elect Liverpool on Saturday, leading to The Athletic reporting that Jurgen Klopp had been impressed, increasing the chances of summer interest following for around £30m.
Manchester United, Tottenham and Manchester City were all linked by the Daily Mail in January as well, with the 21-year-old having six goals and two assists to his name from 26 top-flight appearances so far this season.
"In the future possibly, but I don't think he's done enough yet to warrant playing at that level," McManaman said when asked about Cantwell for his regular column on HorseRacing.net.
"I get the fact that he wants to play at a higher level. I get the fact that he thinks he's playing well in a struggling Norwich team. That's completely understandable.
"It would surprise me if Liverpool were very interested in him, considering the younger kids Liverpool have in and around the squad at that under-23 level.
"Again, we will wait and see. I can only take on face value what I've seen of Todd Cantwell and he's done well in various games.
"Norwich has a lot of really good young players and have done for a number of years so you have to trust what they're doing down at Carrow Road."
MORE: Cantwell set for huge dilemma this summer amid Reds interest
City's Dereham-born academy product has enjoyed a huge rise on profile this season, emphasised earlier this week when he appeared alongside Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton in publicity for sportswear giant Puma.
- You can watch the latest episode of our Terrace Talk fanzine above, ahead of the Canaries' trip to Wolves on Sunday
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