“Florian Wirtz, he is another player,” Marco Neppe tells Sky Sports. The former technical director of Bayern Munich is an admirer for a long -term admirer, but who is not? At the age of 22, the Bayer Leverkusen player is already located under the very best in the world.
Last season he was the support point in the last third for one side that shocked Europe by ending the 11-year reign of Bayern, while Leverkusen was undefeated in the Bundesliga campaign to claim the first title in the history of the club. This season his figures are even better.
In double digits for goals, he also has most assists of open game in the competition with 12. Wirtz has completed most dribbles in Germany, that ability to slide by opponents without breaking the pass. Special, in other words.
“It's the combination,” Neppe explains. “His willingness. He is so brave. His skills are dangerous for every opponent. He can change the momentum of a game by having an idea that nobody expects and suddenly everything is different. He is a game change.”
Wirtz does that a lot. This season started with a 100th minute winner on Gladbach on the opening night before he scored two and another helped in the inverted fixture. Against Freiburg in December he scored one and helped three in a second half of Shellacking.
Freiburg was the victims of perhaps his biggest goal so far, a blood-bearing solo run in October 2023. A natural right-handed driver, he ends with his left and it is striking how comfortable Wirtz moves in pace with both feet in tight situations.
Although it was 2023/24 Bundesliga-season that was his, winning the Player of the Year prize of the competition, this is a coming-of-age campaign for Wirtz in the Champions League, which this time scored six goals in just nine European performances.
His achievements at such a young age are all the more remarkable given that he had to overcome adversity to get here. After he became the youngest player who scored in the Bundesliga, he ran a cross -union that stopped his progress.
Neppe and Bayern considered luring him to Munich while they were injured in a demonstration of belief in his ability to fulfill his potential, an opportunity to sign him cheaply. But Wirtz concentrated on the return of himself, his comeback emphasized his resilience.
In February 2023 it was a pleasure to be in the Bay Arena to see Wirtz score his first goal since she returned from that injury – Leverkusen putting ahead against Monaco in the knockout phase of the Europa League of that season. It was a Cathartic moment for him.
In his office in the stadium in the stadium earlier that day, Simon Rolfes spoke, the sports director of Leverkusen was exuberant in his praise from Wirtz. He informed him that the English audience may not know much about the young person, he quickly replied: “You are going to do it!”
Although Leverkusen could not have fully appreciated how good he would be, they knew everything about the enormous potential of Wirtz. That is why they recruited him from Cologne at the age of 17, their neighbors believed that this broke a gentleman agreement between the clubs.
For a generation, these Rhineland rivals had not focused on each other's Academy players. The then director of Leverkusen, Rudi Voller, argued that ignoring the possibility of bringing in Wirtz would have been “roughly negligent” – that was his obvious talent.
Even the fact that Wirtz Leverkusen Koos – there were already offers from Europe's largest clubs at the time – reflected his adulthood. His family wished he would continue his studies closer to home. Wirtz had a clear vision of how he could best continue his career.
Rolfes explained: “He is incredible from the mental side. How he works, how ambitious he is, how stable he is emotional. Everyone sees the technical side, the fantastic passes, the dribbling, whatever. But this side of him is great. He is just so focused.”
Even then, although still a teenager, Wirtz's adulthood made him stand out. “He is already a leader of this team and inspires the other players with his behavior. He makes the other players better around him. And I think a real top, top player has this ability.”
They turned out to be chairman of the words, because under the guidance of Xabi Alonso, Wirtz could open things for a Leverkusen team that wiped everything for them within 2023/24 before them before them in the interior – which was undefeated in both competition and cup match.
His flowering can be plagued from the statistics, the small curious details that indicate a player who does this differently from the rest. For example, consider how much more dismissal he plays compared to others – 45 percent more than any other player.
He knits attack, plays short and go-pass and constantly moves. The only players who fit more in the last third in the Bundesliga this season are Granit Xhaka and Joshua Kimmich – Playmakers van Deep. But Wirtz often tries the more difficult stuff.
In possession he tried most balls. Out of possession, he is an urgent machine, with more high turnover than anyone in the Bundesliga and fifth in the ranking of the Champions League, even though others play much more matches.
“He is an excellent player, but also an excellent team player,” said Rolfes. “One thing I have already mentioned is the mental side, but from a technical side he finds the spaces to score, to give assists, to speed up the game. In those positions he can find solutions.”
Only Jamal Musiala can possibly be considered the same as the most exciting young player in Germany. It is crucial that both old heads have on their shoulders, the mentality that is not only necessary to reach the top of their profession, but to ensure that they stay there.
Speaking with the legendary balloon d'Or winning midfielder Lothar Matthaus on a recent trip to Germany, he not only reads a small group of English -language journalists about their statement – think that Vertz is not a German sausage – but praised Wirtz's attitude.
“With Florian Wirtz, just like Musiala, they also love it,” said Matthaus. “And if you like football, you're doing well.” He noted that both family around them – especially the father of Wirtz and the mother of Musiala – had to take care of those external things.
“Very important, I think, for the younger generation players. When I see Wirtz and Musiala, they do everything for football. They like to go to training, they like to be on the field with their teammates, they always want to do something to improve.”
As Neppe says: “Germany can be really happy and proud to have two players such as Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz.” The football club that is able to acquire Wirtz's services and to persuade him to spend his first years will certainly be happier.
What would he bring to Liverpool?
The most likely vacancy in the starting line-up of Liverpool is in front, so it is intriguing that the Premier League champions would be willing to spend the majority of their budget on a player who tends to work deeper. But plans for someone like Wirtz can change.
Perhaps he could be used as a false nine with Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah that cut in from the wide areas. His ability to muddle on opportunities for others would certainly alleviate the creative burden that was on Salah during his record year.
Arne Slot did toys with a 4-2-2-2 formation with Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai who played side by side in advanced roles, especially for that system with some success in a 2-0 win over Manchester City in the Etihad Stadium in February.
Wirtz seems to be a natural in that position, although it could also be deployed wider on the left flank or even as part of a midfield three in matches that anticipate Liverpool. He is flexible. And for a player so good, coaches will also be flexible.
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