Football news - Florian Wirtz: The 'very special' Germany wonderkid to keep an eye on - Inside Europe
Published 05/10/2021 at 16:16 GMT
After an incredible start to the season for the 18-year-old, Pete Sharland dials up Dennis Mezler from Eurosport Germany to chat all things Florian Wirtz. How good can the attacking midfielder be? Will he be the latest Germany star to move to Bayern Munich? How similar is he to another Bayer Leverkusen graduate, Kai Havertz? Let’s find out.
Inside Europe FLorian Wirtz
Image credit: Eurosport
If you were going to pick the three players with the highest figure for goals and assists combined this season in Europe’s top five leagues, do you reckon you’d get it right?
Leading the way in a class of his own right now is Karim Benzema of Real Madrid. Through eight La Liga matches he has an astonishing nine goals and seven assists, a frankly ridiculous tally. The Frenchman is playing a different game to pretty much everyone else in Europe right now, but you’d probably guess that.
Second place? That’s Erling Haaland, the Borussia Dortmund superstar who is the second highest scorer in Europe with seven goals, and his three assists move him clear of the two players who share third place. One of them is Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, with six goals and three assists.
So far you’d probably be able to guess these players. The final one? Maybe not.
It’s Florian Wirtz. An 18-year-old attacking midfielder from Bayer Leverkusen. Maybe you’ve heard of Wirtz, maybe you haven’t. Maybe you’ve seen “Welcome to (insert club here)” videos on Twitter and YouTube.
But we wanted to know more. So we got in contact with our colleague Dennis Melzer, and he’s as expert as you can get on Wirtz. Not only dd Melzer grow up in the Leverkusen area he also wrote a profile on Wirtz for Goal a little while back where he had a long chat with Wirtz’s former youth coach Christian Wuck.
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Florian Wirtz (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
Image credit: Getty Images
How special is Wirtz? What sort of player he is?
To start with we began by asking to rate Wirtz as a talent and perhaps give us a better understanding of what sort of player he is.
“In short: very special!” says Melzer.
For my part, I've rarely seen an 18-year-old with so much quality.
“Wirtz is technically outstanding, has a very good eye for his teammates, has the right timing in the passing game. He is also dynamic as soon as he gets the ball and very difficult to calculate for the opponent.
“He is immediately able to pick up high speed. He is not particularly tall or physically robust, but that is exactly what benefits him: Thanks to his low centre of gravity, Wirtz is extremely agile.
“A year and a half ago, in my role as Bayern and DFB correspondent, I spoke to Wirtz's DFB U16 coach Christian Wück for Goal.
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Florian Wirtz, Germany
Image credit: Getty Images
“With regard to his strengths, Wück said: 'He is very clear-headed, knows exactly where he wants to go and how he can achieve these goals. Flo is grounded. That's why he made it into the Bundesliga so early.
"'Flo is incredibly intelligent when it comes to games. He recognises situations on the pitch within a very short time and draws the right conclusions. What makes him so special and what sets him apart from many other youth players is his excellent training in basic technical areas.'"
New Havertz then?
It’s perhaps unsurprising given they are both attacking midfielders coming through the Leverkusen youth system, that many people have dubbed Wirtz the new Kai Havertz.
But Melzer is quick to dispel that notion, pointing out they are very different players with different skillsets.
“It's really difficult to compare him to Havertz,” begins Melzer.
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Kai Havertz
Image credit: Getty Images
“I actually think it's due to the fact that both are flexible, attacking midfielders and both played at Bayer at the beginning of Wirtz ‘career.
“Kai played partly in Leverkusen (due to lack of alternatives) as a centre forward. He was able to do this because he is physically big and, above all, very strong in the heading game (Kai is 1.9m, Flo Wirtz "only" 1.76).
“For example, I don't see Wirtz as a classic central attacker, but rather as a classic creative player. Of course, both are technically strong, have a good finish and have an overview.
“But: as outstanding as Havertz played at Bayer at a young age - I see Wirtz as being even better in terms of quality in the overall package.”
What weaknesses does he have to work on still?
That’s a pretty glowing report but every teenager has something they struggle with or can work on. What is that deficiency for Wirtz then?
“He is (obviously) not a header monster. Christian Wück also said to me at the time: ‘He had physical and athletic problems when we started with him in the U15. He was injured relatively often and unfortunately often had to struggle with muscular complaints. Both FC Köln and Bayer Leverkusen have started working with him in this area to gradually improve this topic.’
“He was not necessarily strong in defensive duels in his youth. In the meantime, however, he has also improved tremendously in this area. Wirtz works a lot backwards and wins many duels.”
Destined for Bayern? Or not so simple?
Unsurprisingly with such a highly thought of German talent reports have emerged that Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich are keeping tabs, and are keen on bring him to Bavaria.
They don’t always get their way though, and Melzer believes that their reluctance to pay high fees regularly might seem priced out, as it did with the likes of Timo Werner and Havertz.
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Florian Wirtz celebrates
Image credit: Getty Images
“If Bayern didn't have Flo on their radar, they'd be doing bad scouting work.
“It is absolutely clear that the best club in Germany is interested in one of the greatest German talents.
“Allegedly there have already been meetings between Bayern and Florian’s father (he is also his son’s agent). Bayern would normally be the next logical step.
“But: if you believe the bosses at Bayer Leverkusen, then Florian has no release clause. His contract runs until 2026!
“I assume (if there are no secret agreements) then he will be more expensive in two years than Kai Havertz was in summer 2020. Bayern is not known for paying such transfer fees, the Munich team will not put more than 100 million euros on the table.
“So if there is no agreement, Flo has no release clause: then he will not move to Bayern, but to a club that is willing to pay more money.”
The state of the Leverkusen academy and an agreement reneged
To finish with I ask Melzer some questions about the Leverkusen academy and the rise of Wirtz. Whilst he has nothing but praise for the work Leverkusen does developing talents he has an interesting story when it comes to Wirtz arriving at Bayer.
“I know Bayer Leverkusen's academy pretty well. At the beginning of the 2000s (long before Bayern, for example, had built their campus) they built a new youth centre called “Kurtekotten”, which is very well equipped and offers the perfect conditions for young players.
“In addition to Kai Havertz, players such as Rene Adler, Gonzalo Castro, Kevin Kampl, Christoph Kramer and Benjamin Henrichs were trained here. Leroy Sané also played for Bayer 04 youth for three years (2008-2011).
“In other words: Leverkusen has always had very good youth work of its own.
“Wirtz, on the other hand, was not trained at Bayer, but between 2010 and 2020 at the unloved neighbour FC Köln.
“Flo only came to Leverkusen in July 2020, when Cologne was angry with Leverkusen because there is actually a kind of "gentlemen's agreement" between the Rhenish clubs Leverkusen, Gladbach and Cologne. This allegedly means that the three clubs are not allowed to steal talent from each other.”
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