Bayer Leverkusen's attacking starlet Florian Wirtz seems poised to finalize a transfer to Liverpool in the next week after making the Merseyside club his top priority. His club teammate and good friend, Jeremie Frimpong, already has one foot in the door with the Reds after completing his medical.
After posting 22 goal involvements a season to help Bayer Leverkusen capture the Bundesliga title, Wirtz was named the league's Player of the Season. He repeated his goal involvement tally in 2024-25 but saw Bayern Munich leapfrog his side in the table; with it, Harry Kane edged him to the Player of the Season honor.
However, the Bundesliga's Players Union voted in a different direction: Wirtz gathered a league-best 29.1% of the vote, besting both Kane (20%) and his Bayern teammate Michael Olise (17%)
Leverkusen remarkably went unbeaten in the 2024-25 season with Wirtz pulling the strings underneath striker Viktor Boniface in coach Xabi Alonso's 3-4-3.
His side managed a still-impressive second-place finish this year. Wirtz's underlying numbers fell off a tad: his rate of 0.60 npxG+xA per 90 minutes dropped to 0.50 this season.
Still, he did well, besting Kane (36 goals, eight assists) last season. The English international captured his second consecutive Golden Boot as he earned his first professional club trophy, scoring 26 goals this time around.
Wirtz celebrates winning the 2023-24 Bundesliga title with his Leverkusen teammates
Wirtz celebrates winning the 2023-24 Bundesliga title with his Leverkusen teammates (Image: Getty Images)
Wirtz's transfer seems set to be confirmed any day now, as Liverpool has already bid north of €100 million ($113 million) for the German playmaker.
After temporarily unpinning it to broadcast the news of Lamine Yamal's contract extension with Barcelona, Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano re-pinned a post all but confirming Wirtz's eventual move.
“Florian Wirtz has informed Bayer Leverkusen of his desire to join Liverpool," it read. "The contract agreement is done, sealed as Wirtz only wants Liverpool move. Club to club talks already underway as revealed earlier, #LFC are confident to get the deal DONE SOON. Not a long saga."
What kind of player is Wirtz? He can play anywhere from a classic No. 10 to the wing to a false 9.
As a winger/attacking midfielder, he ranks in the 93rd percentile across Europe's top-five leagues for shot-creating actions and progressive passes.
Those numbers vault to the 99th percentile if you compare him to other forwards (though his pure goal/assists figures drop).
He joined Leverkusen from Koln in 2020 and debuted for his new side a few months later as a teenager.
Wirtz broke through as a regular starter in 2021/22 before an ACL injury cut his 2022/23 campaign short.