FeatureFlorian Wirtz factfile: Get to know Liverpool's latest signing
Get to know Florian Wirtz better with our factfile all about Liverpool’s new signing.
The Germany international attacking midfielder has become the Reds’ latest recruit of the summer by sealing a move to Merseyside from Bayer Leverkusen.
A precocious talent who emerged at senior level aged just 17, Wirtz was a chief part of the Leverkusen side that won the Bundesliga without losing a match in 2023-24.
Here, we take a closer look at Arne Slot’s newest signing…
Impressive Leverkusen goal contributions. Wirtz departs the German outfit having racked up some mightily impressive numbers while wearing the Bayer kit. Across five-and-a-half years with the club, he played just shy of 200 games in all competitions (197, to be exact) and was involved in 121 goals. Of those contributions, 57 were scored himself while 64 were assists for teammates. His best individual goal tally in a season so far is the 18 he totalled in all competitions during Leverkusen’s double-winning 2023-24.
Lionel Messi was his childhood idol. The superstar’s Argentina jersey was the first owned by the young Florian, he once explained. “When I was little, he was the best player there was at the time in the world. I watched videos of him, was a fan of his – I wanted to be as good as him.” A lofty ambition, though his last coach at Leverkusen, former Reds midfielder Xabi Alonso, was happy to draw a certain comparison in 2023. Alonso said: “Why is Messi so good? Because he knows how and when to play simple passes. Messi says, ‘You’re in a better position? Here, there you have the ball!’ It’s not always about making the most brilliant move, but the best and smartest. Florian can do that. That’s why he’s so good.”
He has a habit of breaking records. Wirtz’s leap to the top level while still a teenager has allowed him to set a series of new records since. Leverkusen’s youngest ever player in the league upon his debut in May 2020, in the next month he became the youngest ever Bundesliga goalscorer at the time. The attacker was subsequently the youngest player to reach 50 appearances in the division. A year ago, a group-stage strike at Euro 2024 made him Germany’s youngest goalscorer in the European Championship finals.
Bundesliga’s best in 2023-24. He was integral to Bayer’s historic 2023-24 season as they won a domestic double of Bundesliga and German cup. Under Alonso, Die Werkself clinched the club’s first ever top-flight league title in the most incredible fashion, navigating the campaign’s 34 games without a single loss (28 wins, six draws). Wirtz’s input included 11 goals and 11 assists, and that personal form earned him the added accolade of Bundesliga Player of the Season.
His first Germany goal was remarkable. March 23, 2024 was a milestone day for Wirtz: his first senior goal in international football. What made the occasion all the more unforgettable was that the effort came just seven seconds into Germany’s 2-0 friendly win against France in Lyon, a record (add it to the list) for his country. What makes it even more peculiar is that, somehow, he was denied the fastest known international strike that same day – Austria’s Christoph Baumgartner beat Florian by one second versus Slovakia.
He experienced Anfield in November. While the on-pitch events were ones to be forgotten for him, Wirtz did get his first taste of Liverpool’s home stadium last year. He was in Leverkusen’s starting XI for a Champions League league-phase encounter with the Reds that Slot’s men won 4-0. He featured for the full game as new attacking teammates Luis Diaz (three) and Cody Gakpo provided the goals for the hosts during the second half.
Champions League class. That blot on Merseyside notwithstanding, Florian’s first opportunity to test his talents on the elite stage of European club competition was a challenge he completed pretty successfully in 2024-25. The signs were positive when his Champions League debut included two goals in a 4-0 away victory over Feyenoord for Bayer, and he grabbed four more strikes during the rest of the league phase – against Brest, Red Bull Salzburg (two) and Sparta Prague. Leverkusen’s run came to an end against Bayern Munich in the Round of 16, with Wirtz missing the second leg due to injury.
Football runs in the family. Elder sister Juliane is a professional footballer too. A former Leverkusen player herself – like her brother, she signed for the club from Cologne, though 18 months earlier than he did – she has represented Werder Bremen for the past two seasons. Meanwhile, father Hans-Joachim played at lower-league level and is a board member of SV Grun-Weiss Brauweiler, a club based in his birthplace, Pulheim. “There are very few members of the family who haven’t played football at all,” said Florian. “That’s why football is always on TV at our place. For us, a lot of things happen around football.”
He has the ‘full package’. So said Hansi Flick, the former Germany boss, under whom Wirtz gained the first nine of his (at time of writing) 31 senior international appearances. “Florian is just a huge asset for this team with his care-free nature,” said Flick, who is now at the helm of Barcelona. “He’s simply an outstanding technician, loves to play, is very creative, has a good shot, runs hard and is quick. He’s the full package.”
German representation. Wirtz will be the latest of a number of Germany internationals to represent the club since Karl-Heinz Riedle became the first when he joined the Reds from Borussia Dortmund in 1997. Dietmar Hamann is the compatriot with the most appearances for Liverpool (283), ahead of Emre Can (167), Riedle (76) and Markus Babbel (73).
Follow him on social. You can follow the new Liverpool man on social media via his Instagram account @flowirtz and on TikTok, where he also has the username @flowirtz.