He may only have featured for a mere 100 minutes in two insignificant pre-season friendlies, but Emre Can has already established himself as a powerful presence in the Liverpool midfield. Just 20-years-old, the German youth international of every single level's physique is his most noticeable quality, and his power and strength that comes with it makes him a difficult entity for any opponent. In addition to being extremely robust, he's surprisingly comfortable in possession and in fact rather skillful with the ball at his feet, not to mention he also looks to have terrific momentum in the sprint. He's not the fastest, but he's certainly an intimidating character when he runs at defenders with intent, as shown against AS Roma the other night.

Originally, Can's arrival was predominantly expected to solely help strengthen depth in midfield, but after some early commanding displays - could Can actually make his case for becoming a first-team starter next season?

As it stands, Liverpool are certainly well stocked in the midfield already, but with Steven Gerrard ageing and Lucas Leiva looking closer to a move away from Anfield with each passing day, pre-season has presented the chance for Can to prove his worth, and so far he's taken it.

The former Bayern Munich man has displayed a variety of qualities, including the box-to-box ability that earned him four goals and four assists in the Bundesliga last season despite operating largely in a defensive capacity. Not only is he powerful when pushing forward, but he looked very confident in tracking back and throwing himself into tackles. Certainly, Can looks like he'll have no qualms with all the hustle and bustle of English football. In fact, in his 29 German league appearances he managed 75 tackles, an impressive 2.6 per game and even in the Champions League he managed 18 in seven appearances, again, 2.6 per game. That's only slightly less than Steven Gerrard's 2.9 tackles per game, Liverpool's furthest withdrawn midfielder, and so Can would certainly be able to step into the veteran's shoes in that defensive anchor role. Hard to believe then, that Can has played just 45 professional games in his career so far.

In both Europe and domestic competitions, Can also managed 1.6 interceptions per game (46 in total in BuLi, and 11 in the UCL) whilst winning 60% of his aerial duels, an asset that is likely to come in handy given the small stature of the Reds' midfield. Defensively, he is solid and though he may have been dribbled 40 times (1.4 per game), he looks a safe bet to rely on for defensive cover in midfield. One area of his game that is rather worrisome, is his discipline. In 29 appearances in the BuLi, Can made 51 fouls - an average of 1.8 per game, and it was a similar story in the Champions League, where he made two a game, 14 in total. As a result, Can picked up 13 yellow cards across both competitions in just 36 appearances. The closest to that tally for Liverpool was Gerrard, who picked up seven bookings last season, almost half of Can's total and so Brendan Rodgers will be keen to address that flaw.

Still, there are plenty of justifications for Can being regarded as one of the brightest prospects of the stellar upcoming German generation. Despite his monumental build, Can is technically superb. Out of the top five European leagues last season, only two more players under the age of 21 completed more dribbles on average (2.5 per game) than Can, who completed 73 successful dribbles. He's a fantastic example of a modern box-to-box, and his passing ability is commendable, despite the fact he managed only 78% passing accuracy for Leverkusen last season. His accuracy with long balls (77/121 accurate - 2.7 per game) shows that the German clearly has a good read of the game and can switch the play efficiently, an attribute eerily similar to his new teammate Gerrard, who dictates the play from his deep-lying playmaker position.

Can is extremely composed, hence the fact he avoided making even a single defensive error last season. In contrast, Liverpool's only midfielders not to make an error were Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho, who were considerably further forward than Can, and so would be expected not to make any defensive errors anyway. Gerrard, however, for all of his experience, made five errors, all of which led to attempts on goal and one of which led to the defining moment of the 2013-14 campaign. Not that that means Gerrard is incapable, but Can is clearly more suited to the demands of the defensive role and Rodgers may perhaps have purchased the eccentric midfielder with the foreshadowing thought of slowly replacing Gerrard.

He certainly shows many similar capabilities to a younger Gerrard, with that outstanding ability to contribute in all areas of the pitch and an unwavering commitment into individual duels, be it defensive or attacking. If Can can make even half of the impact that Gerrard did after his breakthrough, his transfer fee will undoubtedly prove to be a bargain. Whilst the 34-year-old captain remains though, Can's primary role will likely be to fill in for the experienced midfielder when he is rested, which is expected to be much more regularly in order to prolong his career for as long as possible.

However, Can's tremendous versatility suggests he will be a useful asset next season. Rodgers joked: "The only positions he never played for Leverkusen were in goal & centre forward." The Northern Irishman isn't far off, Can played as a defensive midfielder, a central midfielder, a centre-back, a left-back and even a left forward last season and performed admirably in every position. That presents his manager with a whole host of options. Perhaps with Steven Gerrard unlikely to be able to manage Premier League and Champions League games both within a week, Can will play in a defensive role, but pending on whether Liverpool bring in left-back reinforcements, the 20-year-old could find himself filling in as a full-back. Rodgers could also use the German alongside the likes of Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson, which would form a fierce pressing trio, a duty Rodgers loves his midfielders to take up. Of course, Philippe Coutinho looks as if he is becoming moulded into a Luka Modrić-esque central midfield playmaker, meaning Can could also find himself alongside the Brazilian and one of the aforementioned central midfielders.

It'd be futile to say Can will be utilised in one particular position, but it looks most likely that he will be interchanged with Gerrard, or perhaps used alongside Henderson in what would be an industrious midfield that would also allow Liverpool to continue their focus on attacking exploits without having to compensate for their skipper's lack of legs, like they did with the diamond towards the climax of the previous campaign. Still, he will likely be used in a defensive midfield role. Whether he becomes a starter, will be dependent on injuries and form. He certainly could push for a starting berth, but whether he will be able to establish a regular place in XI is uncertain for the time being.

What is certain however, is that though Can's Liverpool career may only just have begun, the future certainly looks promising and he could prove himself to be the youthful box-to-box figure in midfield that the Reds have been missing for some time.