Not a player that gets mentioned every now and then. Of course since he does not play for your Real Madrid or Barcelona in Spain. Or your Manchester United and Chelsea in England. Even in Germany he is not on the books at Bayern Munich.
Florian Wirtz of Bayer 04 Leverkusen celebrates after scoring their side’s second goal during the UEFA Europa League group G match between Bayer Leverkusen and Ferencvarosi TC at BayArena on September 16, 2021 in Leverkusen, Germany. (Photo by Joosep Martinson/Getty Images)
But in Leverkusen, there is a player on the books with lots of potentials. His name, Florian Wirtz. The 18year old, who made his professional bow last year has rapidly moved up the ranks, and now establishing himself as one of the best at what he does.
An attacking Midfielder by trade, would could cover a lots of grounds. His high pressing prowess, ball control, playmaking and eyes for goal makes him a full package with no outstanding weakness.
When Chelsea sold Kai Havertz to Chelsea in the 2020 summer, not many would have thought that a player signed earlier that year (January) to play for the Under-19s will seamlessly replace him and be an upgrade in just after a year.
First, he overtook the now Chelsea man as the youngest player to debut for Leverkusen in the BundesLiga. Then he moved on to becoming the youngest Goalscorer in the league, when he came off the bench as a substitute to score against Bayern Munich.
Although, that record has now been broken by Yousoufa Moukoko of Borussia Dortmund, Wirtz continues to up the standard in his every appearance.
Last year, the former Koln Academy player became the youngest player to appear for Germany’s Under-21 and this year, he is already with the National Team and justifying his selection, every time he comes off the bench. (4).
Making his Germany debut aged 18, and 122days, he became the youngest Leverkusen player to represent the German National Team, overtaking a record previously held by Kai Havertz.
Karim Adeyemi (L) and Florian Wirtz (R) of Germany celebrates their team’s sixth goal during the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier match between Germany and Armenia at Mercedes Benz Arena on September 05, 2021 in Berlin, Berlin. (Photo by Marvin Ibo Guengoer/GES-Sportfoto/Getty Images)
Having scored the lone goal to seal a 1-0 win over Mainz in September, he becomes the youngest player to reach 10 BundesLiga goals, bettering a the record set by World Cup winner, Lukas Podolski.
So far this season, he has scored four times and registered five assists in the German top-flight.
His impressive performances in the month have seen him been awarded the BundesLiga Player of the month of September. He has also scored twice in as many Europa League games and registered a couple of assist for the National Team.
He was a part of the Germany youth that won the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in the summer.
Wirtz, after just six league games this season and just five starts is a goal contribution away from equalling his total contributions last season (10) while also amassing the numbers frequently in other competitions.
His rise has seen him gain recognition and he is one of the ten nominees for the Kopa Trophy. While the German might not be the favourite to win the award, he is surely as good as any of the other nominees and this (nomination) he will hope is a start to something bigger to come.
He will again lineup for Bayer Leverkusen when they return to league action on Sunday against defending Champions Bayern Munich. He is no stranger to these games and even scored his maiden professional goal against The Bavarians.
He will be looking to continue his development and progress as European heavyweights continue to monitor his situation at Leverkusen.
Afolabi Kehinde Hassan
