Macclesfield FC football chief Robbie Savage is full of praise for Liverpool goalkeeper Marcelo Pitaluga.

The Brazilian had a year on-loan with the former Macclesfield Towm, before they reinvented themselves, as a 17 year-old.

Savage told the Liverpool Echo: “He came to us, we didn't think we'd get him, but Liverpool believed in what we had done.

“The big thing was, at these levels, can a young goalkeeper handle players coming into them, the rough and tumble of non-league? And to be fair, he handled it extremely well.

“You see (Mohamed) Salah having shooting drills (in Liverpool training) and he's making brilliant saves, he's a brilliant lad and was magnificent for us. One-v-one he was brilliant and he learned a lot in a short amount of time like when David de Gea come to Britain - that game against West Brom when they were putting balls on him. He was a bit uncomfortable and Marcelo was the same early on.

“But he adapted and that's the sign of a good goalkeeper, he adapted and was magnificent for us."

He continued: “He's got all the physical attributes, the size, he's a good communicator, and he's willing to learn, which is a good thing.

“One of the things that I loved about Marcelo was that it wasn't, 'look at me, I'm from Liverpool', he was one of the lads.

“To the point where we had one of our forwards, Andy Owens - again, what a great guy - Marcelo would travel in in Andy Owens' work van. It was brilliant and he embraced it.

“Marcelo will go on to have a great career because he's got that resilience and it wasn't beneath him - that's what I loved."