The fact that he produced one stunning run, jink and clever footwork before being tripped from behind after rounding the keeper, not seen as a penalty by referee Mark Halsey, gave a taste to the fans of what Houllier now sees in the once chunky but now lean and mean youngster.
Houllier said: "He's like having a new signing. He's much sharper and a different player, very strong.
"He will play a part in our games. He played in our first friendly against Le Havre and scored. He also scored in a training match against a Swiss team.
"Milan had some terrific runs, he gave some depth to our game and he was a real threat to the opposition. And he 'made' a penalty. It was down to him because he created that chance from nothing."
Liverpool now go to Spain at the weekend to play Real Madrid tomorrow and Bayern Munich or AC Milan on Sunday, and both Steven Gerrard and Emile Heskey - who have missed recent games with muscle and hamstring injuries respectively - will travel.
Houllier said: "I believe Steven will probably be okay to play in our second game in Madrid, but if not he will certainly be fit for the Community Shield game with Arsenal the following weekend."
The Reds boss admitted to being disappointed with Tuesday's Lazio defeat, but was delighted with the performance of new boys Bruno Cheyrou and El-Hadji Diouf.
He said: "We lost, which is the dark side of the evening. But the bright side is the display of the new players, who showed they have the qualities to play for Liverpool.
"The crowd took to them." Finnish star Jari Litmanen is suffering from a knee injury and will be out for a fortnight.
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