With the benefit of hindsight, it’s hard to believe we wondered where the goals would come from at Bayer Leverkusen.
Peter Bosz’s side may have lost both of last season’s top scorers in the summer but, with Leverkusen sitting pretty at the top of the Bundesliga, no-one is mourning the departures of Kai Havertz and Kevin Volland these days.
A 4-1 trouncing of Hoffenheim on Sunday lifted the perennial nearly men above a stalling Bayern Munich into first place.
Leon Bailey’s stunning brace may have dominated the post-match discussion but this was also a game in which teen sensation Florian Wirtz reminded us all why the future at the Bay Arena is so blindingly bright.
Just three days after he missed a Europa League clash with Slavia Prague, not due to injury or suspension but school exams, the Germany U21 international produced a moment of magic reminiscent of Chelsea’s £72 million summer signing.
Wirtz somehow managed to wriggle through a traffic jam tighter than the Gordian Knot in the Hoffenheim penalty area, skipping through before clipping a sublime finish into the corner in one breathtaking movement.
And Wirtz’s latest show-stopping contribution won’t make for easy viewing in the Cathedral City.
BILD has a point when it suggests relegation-threatened Cologne will be tearing their hair out as a forward they sold for about £250,000 goes from strength to strength at one of Germany’s biggest clubs.
Cologne, however, aren’t the only ones with a regret or two.
“The boy has huge talent,” Leverkusen youth coach Patrick Helmes told Sport1 in February. “He could have gone to Liverpool, to Bavaria (with Bayern Munich) or to Dortmund.
“Everyone wanted the boy. What he has are things you cannot learn – moving around the box to solve stressful situations. He has a little bit in common with Kai Havertz.”
BILD claims Wirtz, who has four assists in nine Bundesliga matches this term, will soon be valued in the £50 million bracket if he maintains his current trajectory.
Liverpool’s recruitment record boasts far more hits than misses. However, Wirtz is starting to look like a rare blot on the Anfield copybook.
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