Premier League rivals Liverpool and Arsenal are keeping tabs on Florian Wirtz but, according to BILD reporter Christian Falk, Bayern Munich are leading the race for the Bayer Leverkusen talisman.
Of course they are. Heaven forbid there should be any serious competition for the Bundesliga title!
First it was Werder Bremen, then Borussia Dortmund. Then this summer Bayern raided RB Leipzig for centre-half Dayot Upamecano, playmaker Marcel Sabitzer and head coach Julian Nagelsmann.
And now it’s Leverkusen in Bayern’s sights as football’s answer to the Death Star charges up its planet-destroying super ray.
Will Florian Wirtz join Bayern Munich or do Liverpool and Arsenal have a chance?
In five Bundesliga games, 18-year-old Wirtz has produced an astounding eight goals this season – four of his own, four created for his grateful teammates – breaking record after record along the way.
“We know he’s a very talented player who’s in very good form at the moment and is really calm in his head,” beamed Leverkusen coach Gerardo Seoane after Wirtz scored the only goal of the game against Mainz at the weekend.
According to Falk, a who’s who of European giants are already queuing up to secure the services of a potentially generation-defining footballer.
And while Bayern are waiting patiently at the front of the queue, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal are jostling for position too.
Comparisons between Wirtz and former Leverkusen teammate Kai Havertz are inevitable but, if you ignore the fact the two Germany internationals rose through the ranks at the Bay Arena and play in largely the same number ten role, similarities are few and far between.
Wirtz is more direct and dynamic than the cerebral, subtle Havertz. And, if his performances at the start of this season are anything to go by, he’s more of a reliable goal threat than the £72 million Champions League winner too.
“Wirtz is going to be the best player in Germany ever, I think,” midfielder-turned-pundit Simon Cziommer said recently.
High praise indeed.
“You can write that down. He’ll be much better than Kai Havertz in any case. At a young age he has all the skills to play between the lines, to find the right solution and excel in the small spaces.
“(He has) a good shot, good link-up play, he’s strong one on one. He’s a real number ten.”
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