Florian Wirtz, the precocious scorer in his early twenties who led Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga

What will go through the little German’s head? Florian Wirtz for these hours. He grew up at the turn of the century watching a man on the television screen. Bayer Leverkusen whose greatest aspiration, season after season, was to qualify for the Champions League. Setting the goal of winning a title was a utopia for its fans: since its foundation in 1904 only three Olympic tours had been held. The last one was the German Cup in 1993. The title of Bundesliga He had been elusive to their eyes all his life. Until this young man stopped watching TV to take to the pitch and leave his name engraved in the great history of the German club. All this with just 20 years.

Leverkusen’s youngest fans had to turn to their parents or grandparents to tell them the stories of the champions. But when the drought that lasted more than 30 years had already turned into agony, he appeared. Because there is no doubt: Wirtz is the football leader of the team that won the most important title in its history: its first Bundesliga in 120 years of frustration.

Everyone talks about Manchester City, Liverpool or Real Madrid, but Bayer Leverkusen is Europe’s sensational team. He broke with the hegemony that seemed indestructible for 12 years of the Almighty Bayern Monaco. And he did it undefeated after dunking 5-0 against Werder Bremen on Sunday and marks five matches in advance.

Impossible for flashes that don’t point towards the Spanish coach Xabi Alonso, the mind of a team that seems like a machine programmed to win. Leverkusen are aiming for more: they are in the German Cup final (vs. Kaiserslautern) and in the quarter-finals of the Europa League (they won 2-0 in the first leg). West Ham United of England).

Under his command he was accompanied by other characters such as the Argentine world champion Exequiel Palacios (starter in 18 matches) or the Swiss Granit Xhaka, who was finally able to celebrate a title in his long career. However, it is a team in which all the players were protagonists.

Within this stellar performance the figure of Wirtz emerges, the hitch that became the differential for the aspirin kit. He has shone so much that he is already considered the new jewel of that tireless player factory that is Germany. Indeed, He already has 16 games played with his team. And he already has a goal. Which? Nothing less than the spectacular shot against France 7 seconds into the match, in the last FIFA match.

At 20 years old, characterized by a game in which passes between the lines and an excellent shot from distance prevail, Wirtz was not sorry about wearing the number 10 to engrave his name in the history of Leverkusen: 11 goals and a dozen assists in the Bundesliga are his numbers. He demonstrated it this Sunday, in the match of his consecration: he came on from the bench in the second half and, In just 22 minutes, he scored a hat-trick that sent the stadium into a frenzy.

After the second goal of his personal achievement – the fourth of the match – the stadium was in a frenzy and the fans wanted to support the boy from the youth team who was emerging as the figure of the most important title in its history. Perfect combination. That said, they generated the file “championship photo”: They invaded the playing field during the celebration. Crazy: even a security guard ran to hug the player.

The Germans are excited. They believe, with many arguments, that Wirtz is destined to mark an era.

A life with football, but with controversies

It seems to be an unwritten rule in football that the gems that emerge year after year in the sport have anecdotes that shape their history. This is the case of Wirtz, whose passion for football has been fueled since he was born in Pulheim, a small town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, May 3, 2003. However, before he became the kid in the movie, his career was marked by a “betrayal”.

At school, whenever his teachers asked him what he wanted to do when he grew up, his answer was clear: become a professional player. It was a passion that he inherited from his family, faithful lovers of the beautiful sport. “There are very few family members who have not practiced this sport, here it is always on TV“Wirtz himself confessed years ago.

His father was one of his technical directors in the youth team of his hometown where he took his first steps and in which he played together with him. his sister Juliene, two years older. The twists and turns of her life would bring them together again with the colors of Leverkusen, where the young girl has been shining for the women’s team since 2018.

When I was 7 years old, FC Cologne noticed that a diamond in the rough was in the making and recruited him for their youth team. The story would take an unexpected turn in January 2020, when a still young Wirtz, who was making waves in the Under 17 category and decided to move to Leverkusen, Cologne’s historic rival.

Despite the controversy that the transfer caused in Germany, the boy turned a deaf ear to the situation. “It was never a topic of discussion in my inner circle.. “My parents and friends supported me even though it caused a huge reaction in the media,” he said Werks11 magazine time after the dispute.

The midfielder has always maintained his position and his desire to move to Bayer’s Under-19 team. But the clock started ticking fast. The fact is that he only played four games in the lower divisions, where he scored two goals and provided three assists, before being promoted to the first team.

He May 18, 2020, months after his arrival and in the midst of football’s resumption during the Covid-19 pandemic, a still unknown Wirtz made his senior debut in the First Division. With At 17 years and 15 days he became the youngest player to play his first official match in the club’s history and the third in the entire history of the Bundesliga.. Data that does not represent a coincidence.

Wirtz’s emergence has been fantastic. The changes of “concentrating in hotels and not going home every day” weighed little on him. Even though I knew I had toshow what he was capable of“if he wanted to become a starter. And boy, did he. His skills would have caught the attention of German football and Only a year later he would debut in the senior team.

Likewise, not everything was rosy for Germany’s greatest prospect. When he became the undisputed starter at Leverkusen he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in March 2022 and he will return to the fields only in October of the same year. As if it were written by destiny, he did it in parallel with the arrival of Xabi Alonso. The mission was clear to both: saving Leverkusen two points from relegation.

The Spanish coach, who announced that he will continue for another season despite the interest of the giants of the continent, did not hesitate to make one of his first decisions: Wirtz would be the leader of football. The results are visible: the aspirin team They left the bottom of the table and entered the Europa League. For the start of the current season, the hitchhiker would receive the vote of confidence he was missing: the number ’10’. “Florian is a gift to me as a coach. He is a player different from the others“Alonso praised.

At 20 years old – he will turn 21 in a couple of weeks – he has not disappointed expectations and has brought his level to the maximum to sign, for now, a statistic of 17 goals and 18 assists in all competitions. New indication that his future, at the same time, is already present.

“I dream big“, declared the boy two seasons ago. Now, beyond his youth, his call to the German national team for the European Championships to be played in his homeland is guaranteed. In the meantime, the big European clubs try to seduce him while the fans Leverkusen’s fingers are crossed to keep him for at least another season.

But for Wirtz it’s still time to celebrate. “It’s indescribable! I still can not believe it. What we achieved is incredible!“, declared the team’s balance sheet after winning the championship. Since his debut he has already played 139 games, with 39 goals and 47 assists.

Likewise, with the Xabineta there are goals in sight: Winning the German Cup and the Europa League to achieve the first treble in Leverkusen’s history and cap an indelible season. The boy from the youth team, who on television along with an entire generation watched Bayer fight to get on the podium of the season as their highest aspiration, wants to earn a place among the club’s idols through goals and titles. And yes, all at just 20 years old.