Florian Wirtz

Florian Wirtz
Wirtz with Bayer Leverkusen in 2022
Personal information
Full name Florian Richard Wirtz[1]
Date of birth (2003-05-03) 3 May 2003 (age 20)
Place of birth Pulheim, Germany
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, left winger
Team information
Current team
 Bayer Leverkusen
Number 10
Youth career
2008–2010 SV Grün-Weiß Brauweiler
2010–2020 1. FC Köln
2020–2021 Bayer Leverkusen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020– Bayer Leverkusen 100 (19)
International career‡
2018 Germany U15 1 (0)
2018–2019 Germany U16 5 (0)
2019–2020 Germany U17 4 (0)
2020– Germany U21 6 (2)
2021– Germany 14 (0)
Medal record
Men's Football
Representing  Germany
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Winner 2021 Hungary–Slovenia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:38, 24 February 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:04, 22 November 2023 (UTC)

Florian Richard Wirtz (born 3 May 2003) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or left winger for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Germany national team.[3] He is regarded as one of the best young players in the world.[4]

Club career

Regarded as a big upcoming talent in German football, Wirtz joined the youth team of 1. FC Köln in 2010, where he remained until he was signed by Bayer Leverkusen in January 2020.[5]

Bayer Leverkusen

2020–2021: First years and youngest scoring records

After impressing for the under-17 team, Wirtz made his senior professional debut for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on 18 May 2020, starting in an away match against Werder Bremen.[6] In doing so, he overtook Kai Havertz as Leverkusen's youngest player in the league, at the age of 17 years and 15 days.[7] On 6 June, Wirtz scored his first goal for Leverkusen in the 89th minute of their 4–2 home loss against Bayern Munich, making Wirtz the youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history at the age of 17 years and 34 days.[8] This record would later be surpassed by Youssoufa Moukoko less than a year later, aged 16 years and 28 days.[9] On 22 October, he scored his first goal in European competitions in a 6–2 win over Nice during the 2020–21 Europa League.[10]

Wirtz signed a contract extension with the club on 23 December 2020, extending his deal until 2023.[11] On 19 January 2021, he scored the winner in the 80th minute of Leverkusen's 2–1 home victory over Borussia Dortmund.[12] Wirtz scored his fifth career Bundesliga goal in a 5–2 win against VfB Stuttgart on 6 February, becoming the first player in league history to reach this benchmark before turning eighteen years old.[13] He extended his contract until 2026 on 3 May 2021, the day of his 18th birthday.[14] On 28 November 2021, Wirtz netted his fifth Bundesliga goal of the season in a 1–3 win against RB Leipzig to become the first player under the age of 19 to score more than ten Bundesliga goals.[15] On 15 December, he became the youngest player to reach 50 Bundesliga appearances against Hoffenheim, at the age of 18 years and 223 days.[16]

2022–present: Long-term injury and return to form

On 13 March 2022, Wirtz tore his anterior cruciate ligament in a 1–0 defeat against 1. FC Köln, hence he missed the rest of the 2021–22 Bundesliga season.[17] On 22 January 2023, he played his first competitive match in ten months, coming off the bench, in a 3–2 away win over Borussia Mönchengladbach.[18] On 26 October 2023, he scored a goal and provided a hat-trick of assists in a 5–1 victory over Qarabağ during the 2023–24 Europa League group stage.[19]

International career

Wirtz received his first call up to the senior team for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in March 2021.[20] He made his debut on 2 September in a World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein, a 2–0 away victory. He substituted Joshua Kimmich in the 82nd minute.[21] In May 2022, German national coach Hansi Flick expressed his willingness to name Wirtz in the final squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, yet he missed the tournament due to his ACL injury.[22]

Playing style

Wirtz is an attacking midfielder, although he can also play wide on the left as an inverted winger. He has a marked offensive mindset and is a very dynamic midfielder, who covers a lot of ground.[23]

Personal life

Wirtz was born in the Brauweiler district of Pulheim, North Rhine-Westphalia.[3]

Wirtz's parents are his agents; his father, Hans-Joachim, is also the chairman of Grün-Weiß Brauweiler, the club that Wirtz played for as a child before joining Köln.[24] His elder sister Juliane Wirtz is a professional footballer as well; she made her Women's Bundesliga debut at the age of sixteen and represented Germany at youth level.[5]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 23 February 2024[3][25]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League DFB-Pokal Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bayer Leverkusen 2019–20 Bundesliga 7 1 1 0 1[a] 0 9 1
2020–21 29 5 2 1 7[a] 2 38 8
2021–22 24 7 1 0 6[a] 3 31 10
2022–23 17 1 0 0 8[a] 3 25 4
2023–24 23 5 4 1 4[a] 2 31 8
Career total 100 19 8 2 26 10 134 31
  1. ^ a b c d e Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 21 November 2023[3]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Germany
2021 4 0
2023 10 0
Total 14 0

Honours

International

Germany U21

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Florian Richard Wirtz | Player profile". Bundesliga. Archived from the original on 31 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Florian Wirtz" (in German). Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Florian Wirtz at WorldFootball.net Edit this at Wikidata
  4. ^ "Florian Wirtz: Who is Bayer Leverkusen and Germany's latest wonderkid?". Bundesliga. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Florian Wirtz: Who is Bayer Leverkusen's new wonderkid and youngest-ever debutant?". Bundesliga. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Germany » Bundesliga 2019/2020 » 26. Round » Werder Bremen – Bayer Leverkusen". WorldFootball.net. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Florian Wirtz replaces Kai Havertz as Bayer Leverkusen's youngest ever player". Bundesliga. Deutsche Fußball Liga. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Auch Leverkusen kein Hindernis: Bayern marschiert weiter zum Titel" [Leverkusen no hindrance either: Bayern marches on to the title]. kicker (in German). 6 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Youssoufa Moukoko becomes youngest ever Bundesliga scorer for Borussia Dortmund against Union Berlin". Bundesliga. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  10. ^ "6:2 gegen Nizza in der Europa League: Bayer Leverkusen startet mit Kantersieg" (in German). Tagesspiegel. 22 October 2020.
  11. ^ "Florian Wirtz extends contract to 2023". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Florian Wirtz fires Bayer Leverkusen back to winning ways against Borussia Dortmund". Bundesliga. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  13. ^ "Florian Wirtz continues to rewrite Bundesliga history for Bayer Leverkusen". Bundesliga. 6 February 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Bayer 04 extend Florian Wirtz contract to 2026". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  15. ^ "Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz sets new Bundesliga scoring record". Bundesliga. 29 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Florian Wirtz becomes youngest player to make 50 Bundesliga appearances". Bundesliga. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  17. ^ "Florian Wirtz out for the season after ACL injury". DW. 13 March 2022.
  18. ^ "Bundesliga, Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Bayer Leverkusen: Das 2:3 im Liveticker zum Nachlesen" (in German). spox.com. 22 January 2023.
  19. ^ "Wirtz wirbelt nach Belieben: Bayer lässt Qarabag keine Chance" (in German). Kicker. 26 October 2023.
  20. ^ "Start ins EM-Jahr: Musiala und Wirtz erstmals im DFB-Team". dfb.de. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  21. ^ "Liechtenstein v Germany game report". FIFA. 2 September 2021.
  22. ^ "News in brief: Flick on World Cup chances for Wirtz". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 20 May 2022.
  23. ^ "Wonderkids: Florian Wirtz | Soccerment Research". Soccerment. 12 January 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  24. ^ "8000 Euro für Papa Hätten Sie ihn erkannt? Nationalspieler macht rheinischen Dorfklub froh". express.de (in German). 20 October 2021.
  25. ^ "F. Wirtz". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  26. ^ "Goldene Fritz-Walter-Medaillen an Brand, Adeyemi und Moukoko". dfb.de (in German). 9 November 2022.
  27. ^ "Wirtz, Katterbach und Oberdorf erhalten Fritz-Walter-Medaille in Gold". kicker (in German). 19 August 2020.
  28. ^ "Bundesliga Player of the Month". Bundesliga. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  29. ^ "The EA Sports Bundesliga Team of the Season 2021/22 is here!". Bundesliga. 13 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  30. ^ a b "Christopher Nkunku zum VDV-Spieler der Saison gewählt" (in German). VDV. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  31. ^ "Florian Wirtz named 2022/23 UEFA Europa League Young Player of the Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 4 June 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2023.

External links