Premier League fans will need to study up on the ‘genius’ that is Florian Wirtz as speculation surrounding his future ramps up.
talkSPORT understands that Liverpool have held talks with the Bayer Leverkusen star’s family ahead of a potential summer move.
However, they face stern competition from Bayern Munich and Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola is a huge fan of the versatile attacker, while Bayern are confident he will leave Leverkusen for the Allianz.
If he were to move to the Premier League, it would be a British record transfer fee of roughly £126 million.
The current Premier League record is Moises Caicedo from Brighton to Chelsea, but this would beat that, and there is a good reason why these three teams want Wirtz.
The German international is the youngest in a family of 12, and he has nine siblings, all of whom play football, except Marie.
His sister, Juliane, plays professional football for Werder Bremen, while his father, Hans-Joachim, is the chairman of Grun-Weiss Brauweiler.
The Wirtz family spent so much time at the club that they didn’t feel the need to have a TV at home until Euro 2016.
Instead, they just watched football in the clubhouse.
Wirtz joined Leverkusen in 2016 as a 16-year-old, rejecting the advances of Bayern and Hoffenheim.
It didn’t take him long to make his debut as Peter Bosz threw Wirtz into the Bundesliga when he just turned 17 in May 2020.
However, he wasn’t just in demand on the pitch, as the then-teenager continued to juggle his school work alongside his football.
Seven months after his Bundesliga debut, Wirtz was left out of Leverkusen’s squad for a 4-0 Europa League win over Slavia Prague due to an impending school exam.
“I have to admit that it is exhausting managing both at the same time. I know that I have to approach my studies and football with the same amount of energy, even though football comes a bit more naturally to me. But I realise that I don’t have much time left in my studies and I cannot give up so close to the end,” Wirtz said in an interview with the German FA in 2021.
His absence wasn’t the first time Leverkusen have had to manage without a promising young player in Europe because of school, with Kai Havertz sitting out a Champions League last-16 second leg against Atlético Madrid for the same reason three years earlier.
Wirtz previously told Leverkusen’s official website: “Of course, Kai is a role model. He gave me a few good tips, and I was able to learn a lot above all in training. He was definitely somebody I could look up to.
“I was particularly impressed with his first contact with the ball, and it was better than anybody else in the team.
“That enabled him to take virtually every chance in front of goal, and he was able to position himself perfectly to receive good balls.”
Havertz’s transfer to Chelsea, and then latterly Arsenal, opened the door for Wirtz to cement his spot as the club’s new No.10.
He has gone on to make 196 senior appearances for Leverkusen, scoring 57 times and setting up a further 65, which is more than a goal contribution per two matches.
What makes these statistics even more impressive is that in 2022, his career suffered a huge blow.
Wirtz tore the ACL in his left knee, ruling him out for nearly a year, but hasn’t shown any lingering effects of the issue that has ruined the careers of many elite stars.
Since coming back from that injury, he’s helped Leverkusen win the Bundesliga and play in the Champions League, contributing massively to both.
Unsurprisingly, his manager, Xabi Alonso, is a huge fan.
Speaking after a stunning goal in December 2024 against St Pauli, Alonso said: “He is a special player for us. We’re happy that he’s here and gives us that extra quality.
“He has a top mentality, and I had nothing to do with the goal. That’s his genius, his moment.”
That mentality was put under strain when he came in for teasing from fans about his love for plain potatoes.
In a video with the German national team’s social media last year, Wirtz was asked to rank types of potato dishes and ranked a plain baked potato as his first choice.
Speaking to kicker, the attacker said: I don’t find it entertaining. I and people who know me don’t understand why it went viral.
“I think people made fun of me a little when I said it. But it’s not really that bad. I stand by it, I still like potatoes. But when people keep shouting that at me from left and right, I just try to ignore it.
“It doesn’t bother me, but at some point, it gets to the point where it’s not that funny anymore.”
What is no laughing matter are the comparisons to England and Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham.
Former West Ham and Chelsea ace Joe Cole believes the two have similarities.
Speaking during Leverkusen’s Europa League run during the 2023/24 season, he said: I’ve watched him three times this year now and he’s blown me away every time.
“He’s got a South American flair with a German efficiency about him. We’ve all heard of Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden, and Musiala.
“This lad will be new to the British viewers. Let me tell you, he is every bit as talented as those players. He could go on to be anything.”
On the international stage, Wirtz is now a key part of Julian Nagelsmann‘s side.
The 22-year-old also made history at Euro 2024 for Germany.
His goal against Scotland in a 5-1 win on opening night made him the country’s youngest goalscorer in the European Championship.
And you can see him going on to make well over 100 international appearances.
One of the reasons he is so appealing to Liverpool, City and Bayern is his versatility.
Throughout his career, he has played on the right, left and down the middle.
He mainly operates as a traditional attacking midfielder, floating between the lines and getting into the box to provide the finishing touch to moves or the final pass to unlock the door.
There is no question that he would transform any attack in the world, and the race for his signature is going to be fierce.
