Xabi Alonso, a Liverpool legend, has won the World Cup, two European Championships, and two Champions Leagues.
In addition to four league titles and four domestic cups in England, Spain, and Germany, the Spaniard is regarded as one of the greatest players of his period. As a result, he has played alongside and against some of the game’s greatest players.
But his expression told it all as he led Bayer Leverkusen to a 2-1 victory over SC Freiburg on Sunday, keeping his team ahead of Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga standings. Florian Wirtz’s opening goal will be one of the best individual goals he has ever seen in his football career as a player and manager.
The 20-year-old received the ball on the right flank, just outside the penalty area, and cut inside into the box, twisting and turning past two defenders, beating one of them twice before leaving them on the floor. Despite the sea of Freiburg bodies in front of him, he’d cut back towards the byline before curling a shot into the lower left-hand corner.
“He scores… that’s half of their team.” Unreal,” Leverkusen wrote on Twitter, accompanied a still image of Wirtz poised to fire with seven Freiburg players surrounding him and five just in front of him in his route to goal. The goal is not even in play.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a goal that special from him so far,” Alonso exclaimed after the game ended. “The dribble, dribble, dribble, and then the shot.”
“We recently discussed Flo and the things he does; I can’t teach him these things, just like today.” Only a few players in the Bundesliga are capable of doing so.”
Wirtz’s stunning goal was his fifth of the season in 13 appearances across all competitions. He would subsequently set up the would-be winner for Jonas Hofmann with his eighth assist of the campaign, exploding down the left wing and cutting inside as he held off a man while racing half the length of the pitch, before laying it off after just about managing to retain control.
When you consider the Germany international is still only 20 and had an ACL injury in March 2022, only returning the following January after a 10-month lay-off which saw him miss the Qatar World Cup, such form is even more astonishing.
He has registered 18 goals and 22 assists from 69 appearances since the start of the 2020/21 season before to his terrible injury. Returning with four goals and eight assists from 25 outings in the second part of last season, he has wasted no time in getting back to his best.
Wirtz, naturally, continues to be connected with a whole array of premier clubs around Europe, including Liverpool. Fabrizio Romano attributed the Reds with interest in the German back in March, stating that Jurgen Klopp was a huge fan of his compatriot. However, he also said that the Leverkusen youngster will be staying put till 2024. So may the 20-year-old end up being Anfield-bound in the future?
You can’t deny there is something extremely Mohamed Salah-esque about Wirtz’s goal and assist against Freiburg. The way he cuts inside, defeats defender after defender and bends it into the bottom corner with his left foot is something Reds fans have witnessed their Egyptian King pull off countless times, as is a tremendous solo-run covering half the pitch before laying it to a team-mate.
But despite Wirtz’s wonder-goal being converted with his left foot, he is not left-footed. Consequently, he is not an inverted right-winger, and has actually mostly played as an offensive midfielder for Leverkusen.
Yet while Liverpool now has Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, and even Darwin Nunez who can cut inside from their left wing, along with a number of bright kids coming through the Academy, it doesn’t mean there would be no space for Wirtz at Anfield either.
An attacking midfielder he might be, but it doesn’t make him a lone number 10. Sure, he has played that position when Alonso opts for a 4-2-3-1 formation, and has even played upfront, but the Spaniard’s favoured system is a 3-4-2-1 set-up – one that is similar to how Klopp’s Reds line-up when Trent Alexander-Arnold plays into midfield as an inverted right-back.
Wirtz was used in the middle or as a left-sided attacking midfielder last season. However, after Moussa Diaby’s £51.8m move to Aston Villa in the summer, the German has been alternating more with fellow right-footer Jonas Hoffman. According to Transfermarkt, the 20-year-old plays on the right, with his most recent strike indicating he has a strong left foot in his arsenal.
With talk about Salah’s future rife following interest from Saudi Arabia, Liverpool will need to find a replacement at some stage. Wirtz is not an inverted right-winger, thus he may not be a perfect successor in that regard. But, truly, could anyone fill those enormous shoes?
Even if he is not a like-for-like replacement for the Egyptian, he may find himself in such a conversation if he continues to get admiring eyes from Anfield.
Whatever the case may be, one thing is certain: he is on the Reds’ radar. If Wirtz continues to impress for Leverkusen, a big-money move is almost surely on the horizon.
