Florian Wirtz is perhaps the big new thing in football, with attention on him at an all-time high.
The dazzling midfielder was at the heart of the attack for a Xabi Alonso-led Bayer Leverkusen side that went undefeated on their way to a Bundesliga title last season and were only pipped in the Europa League final by Atalanta.
The 21-year old German tallied 37 goal involvements in all competitions last year and, understandably, has caught the eye of the giants of European football.
Now, Madrid media outlet DefensaCentral are reporting that Liverpool will face competition from Real Madrid for the wonderkid’s signature.
They report that the Reds are willing ‘to pay the 120 million Euros that Bayer Leverkusen are asking for’, although the Spanish side remain confident of their ability to get the job done, much like they did with fellow youngsters Eduardo Camavinga and Aurélien Tchouaméni.
After an oustanding Euros summer in which he starred for his national team, including an equaliser in the quarter-finals against eventual winners Spain, Wirtz has started this season where he left off. He opened the scoring in a 4-3 win over Wolfsburg this weekend, a strike which took his tally to six goals in as many games in all competitions this season. Wirtz also grabbed two crucial goals on his Champions League debut as Leverkusen eased to a 4-0 win over Dutch giants Feyenoord.
New manager Arne Slot would be able to use Wirtz’s creativity and energetic pressing in a similar manner to how he already uses Dominik Szoboszlai at Anfield. The German’s ability to find key passes and exploit space to create shooting opportunities means he would fit into Slot’s system immediately. With fierce competition from Europe’s best sides, however, it is yet to be seen whether Liverpool can get the deal done.
