Florian Wirtz: Germany’s own Kevin de Bruyne featuring as Die Mannschaft reach Euro 2024 quarter-finals
Florian Wirtz enjoyed a season to remember with Bayer Leverkusen.
The 21-year-old starred for Die Werkself as they won their first ever Bundesliga title — going the entire domestic campaign without losing a match.
Xabi Alonso’s men also lifted the DFB-Pokal and reached the Europa League final, with Wirtz racking up 18 goals and 19 assists in all competitions.
Now, he’s looking to add international silverware to his collection, part of Germany’s squad as they bid to win Euro 2024.
Star qualities
Plays like: Kevin De Bruyne
Manchester City have been linked with signing Wirtz to replace Kevin De Bruyne, if the Belgian were to depart this summer.
And it is not hard to see why Pep Guardiola would view him as the perfect successor to Man City’s creator-in-chief.
Leverkusen’s No.10 is a sublime passer who frequently threads dangerous balls behind opposition defences.
That was encapsulated by Wirtz’s sensational assist during Die Werkself’s 2-1 victory over Heidenheim in February, when his delicate reverse pass bamboozled their back line and put team-mate Amine Adli through on goal.
The Pulheim native is not simply a playmaker, however.
He is a skilful dribbler and a goalscorer with a diverse range of finishes in his locker, as reflected in his remarkable 2023/24 highlights reel.
Wirtz slalomed through Freiburg’s defence to score back in October, before netting with a dinked finish against Frankfurt almost two months later.
The former Koln youngster then showcased further strings to his attacking bow in the second half of the campaign — curling in a pinpoint effort during March’s 3-2 victory over Freiburg, then thundering home a powerful drive to score the first of a hat-trick against Werder Bremen in April.
With impressive technique and work rate, Wirtz already looks to be the complete package at such a young age.
He is a versatile operator, too, who is comfortable featuring out wide, as a central attacking midfielder, in a deeper-lying role or even up front.
There is sure to be plenty of interest in Leverkusen’s star man over the coming months — especially if he lights up the European Championship with Germany.
International pedigree
Euro 2024 is Wirtz’s first major international tournament, after an ACL injury saw him miss out on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
He’s a key figure in Julian Nagelsmann’s side, having featured in all 12 of Germany’s game since the 36-year-old took charge in October last year.
And Nagelsmann was full of praise for Wirtz when discussing his development in late 2023, saying: “I particularly appreciate his [Wirtz’s] creativity and his courage on the ball.
“He is very hard working and runs a lot of kilometres at Leverkusen.
“I think he feels extremely valuable and has arrived at Leverkusen – and with us he is a little more humble in his demeanour but he can be that too.”
For a player who has registered 91 goal contributions in just 152 matches at club level, Wirtz will be keen to add more end product when playing for his country.
He has scored just two goals in 22 appearances for the German national team, alongside four assists. However, both strikes were significant.
Wirtz’s first Germany goal came after just seven seconds in a friendly against France in March, Die Mannschaft‘s fastest-ever goal.
He then opened the scoring for Germany in their 5-1 win over Scotland to open Euro 2024.
Wirtz started all three of Germany’s Euro 2024 group stage games before coming off the bench in the last 16 against Denmark. The 21-year-old is currently averaging 2.18 shots per 90 minutes, 2.18 chances created and 2.62 take-ons completed.
Club season snapshot
Twenty-two of Wirtz’s 37 goal contributions last season came in the Bundesliga, as he amassed 11 goals and 11 assists en route to the title.
Only team-mate Alex Grimaldo (13) accumulated more assists than the VDV player of the season, who posted some eye-catching numbers in 2023/24.
For starters, he created 74 chances across the campaign, which was inside the division’s top 10 players.
That is partly because he attempted 23 through-balls — the most in Germany’s top flight — while attempting (961) and completing (762) a high volume of passes into the final third.
Wirtz’s desire to take players on was also reflected in his figures from Leverkusen’s historic campaign.
He attempted 154 take-ons and completed 79 of them, putting him in the Bundesliga’s best five performers for both metrics.
And his shooting accuracy befits a player who hit double figures for Die Werkself, with a significant 34 shots on target throughout the season.
But the midfielder has made just as significant an impact without the ball — no player won possession more times in the attacking third than his 36 regains.
Wirtz’s impact on all aspects of Leverkusen’s play was crucial to their unprecedented 51-game unbeaten streak across all competitions.
He will be hoping to play just as important a role for Germany at Euro 2024.
