The greatest talent of our time? Schick’s main passer Wirtz is already starting to outgrow Leverkusen

While there are many talented footballers running around the world, there are far fewer generational talents. One of them, however, is on the same team as Patrik Schick. At 18, Florian Wirtz is one of the hottest commodities that could be available this summer.

Although the Golden Boy award for the best young footballer under 21 was won by Barcelona’s Pedri this year, the six months younger Florian Wirtz, who is shining in the German Bundesliga, also had a great chance to win.

Wirtz is now 18 years old, but he is entering his third season in a row among the German elite. He was given a few opportunities to prove himself in the 2019/20 season, was a regular in the regular season the following season and is now an indispensable member of the club.

The Bayer star made his debut at the age of 17 years and 15 days, the fourth youngest player to make his Bundesliga debut. He is now even newly the youngest Bundesliga player with 50 games played.

His numbers this season across competitions? 20 games, 8 goals, 11 assists, in short, fancy for an 18 year old youngster. In the Bundesliga, only the legendary Thomas Müller in a Bayern jersey has more assists than him. In the league, he has already assisted 6 goals by Patrik Schick.

According to WhoScored, Wirtz is the 12th best player in the Bundesliga this season, with 7 players from Bayern, Dortmund and Leipzig ahead of him, only Schick is doing better. However, no one under the age of 21 has a better mark than him.

And what makes the Leverkusen star stand out besides his numbers? Great dribbling, an incredible overview of the game, creating scoring chances, the courage to shoot or take responsibility. Of course, there are still a few areas in which he can improve. But for his age, he’s terrific. Practically his only weakness is his defensive skills, but that can be worked on.

Of course, we have to take into account that the Bundesliga is a very offensive and dynamic competition, so one could still question some tactical maturity. But this is learned through experience, which Wirtz is gaining in a big way. He has even already broken into the national team, for which he has played four games and notched up two assists.

According to Transfermarkt, his value is at €65 million. This makes him the seventh most valuable player in the under-21 age group.

Chelsea have reportedly been interested in Wirtz since October, but several clubs are interested in him. There is a lot of talk about a possible transfer to Bayern, where he should eventually replace the aforementioned Thomas Muller. However, it is possible that his transfer will not happen right away.

He has a contract at Leverkusen until the summer of 2026. However, if he decides to leave, it will be hard to prevent him from doing so. The temptations will be many.

Sources: Transfermarkt, Bayer Leverkusen, WhoScored, Bundesliga