With a cruciate ligament rupture having so far ruled Florian Wirtz out of the 2022/23 season, some may have already forgotten about the 19-year-old’s ludicrous talent amid the performances on offer from the likes of Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala domestically and abroad.
Should Liverpool be unable to sign either of the latter two midfielders, however, Ronan Murphy has suggested that the former teenager should be right at the top of their list in terms of Bundesliga-based transfer targets.
“After Bellingham, and excluding Jamal Musiala who it would be impossible to sign, Florian Wirtz is the brightest talent in the Bundesliga,” the journalist told Anfield Index. “He’s been injured and hasn’t featured for Bayer Leverkusen recently, but he has already had a greater impact than Kai Havertz at the club, and would be a brilliant signing for any club.”
It’s hard to disagree with the view when considering the player registered a remarkable 24 goal contributions in 31 games from the middle of the park last term.
A consistent complaint about our midfield is that it’s all (or, rather, mostly) industry and no goals – a feature that Wirtz would surely help change were we to seriously pursue his signature in the near future.
The young German is set to return to full team training in early December (according to the Bundesliga’s official website), which will give us ample time to analyse his performances ahead of the winter window.
With a contract not set to expire until 2027, however, we can safely expect Xabi Alonso’s outfit to slap a mega price-tag on the youngster’s back, as is their right.
Much like Manu Kone, however, as Murphy rightly pointed out: Wirtz’s asking price will likely soar even higher, potentially far beyond our means, if we don’t look to snap him up soon.
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