Florian Wirtz or Another young jewel of Bayer Leverkusen

When you say Bayer Leverkusen, the first name that comes to mind is that of Czech striker Patrik Schick. But he and the whole of Leverkusen benefit from the performances of the only 18-year-old Florian Wirtz.

He has already had a good season last season, scoring 5 + 6 in the Bundesliga, plus 2 goals and 2 assists in Europa League matches. The good performances were a harbinger of things to come.

He struggled with injuries in preparation, but that didn’t stop him from literally having a rocket start to this season. In the first two games he scored a goal and two assists.

Even after the national break, he didn’t lose his breath and added two goals and an assist in his next Bundesliga games. He also scored one goal in the Europa League match against Ferencváros.

In total, he has collected 4 goals and 4 assists in 5 games and is on track to surpass his total stats from last season in the first half of the season.

He can rightfully be considered as Kai Havertz’s successor. If he keeps up his performance and avoids serious injuries, Leverkusen can already wash their hands of him.

And not only them, the German national team coach Hans-Dieter Flick is also happy about his performance, he has already used the young midfielder at the last national team meeting. Although Florian came on as a substitute, he already scored his first assist in the match against Armenia and contributed to the Germans’ overwhelming 6:0 win.

It is also worth mentioning that Wirtz gets along well with Patrik Schick on the pitch. Schick has 4 goals so far, 3 of which were assisted by Wirtz. So it looks like a new attacking duo in the colours of the team from Rhineland-Westphalia.

Finally, I would like to point out that his rise is definitely no coincidence. He scored his first Bundesliga goal when he was 17 years and 34 days old, making him the youngest goal scorer in Bundesliga history for a few months. Another promising youngster, Youssoufa Moukoko of Dortmund, took that record from him.

Wirtz was also a key player in the German U21 national team that won the last European Championship. Leverkusen thus once again confirmed their ability to nurture great talent. And we’ll certainly be curious to see who their next ace up their sleeve will be.

Source: Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen