Chelsea may be wishing they pushed harder to sign Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz in the summer after seeing his European masterclass last night.
Florian Wirtz, who’s still only 20, is one of the most exciting young players in Europe.
The Germany international has been performing to such a high standard for a few years in the Bundesliga division. He’s got some real pedigree in European football, too.
Wirtz was in sensational form last night during Leverkusen’s 5-1 win over Qarabag in the Europa League group stages. The attacking midfielder scored once and created three assists during a memorable performance on Thursday evening. He was even afforded some rest when he was substituted off for the final 20 minutes.
Chelsea speculation
Journalist Simon Phillips reported via his Substack back in June that Chelsea were eyeing Wirtz as a potential summer target.
The German playmaker ended up staying put in Leverkusen, where he continues to go from strength to strength for Xabi Alonso’s in-form side.
Instead, Chelsea did reinforce their attacking positions by signing the likes of Cole Palmer and Chirstopher Nkunku.
When fit, the Blues can play any of Palmer, Nkunku or Carney Chukwuemeka in the No 10 position.
Therefore, there’s not much room to play Wirtz in his best role.
Florian Wirtz a special talent
We fully expect to see Leverkusen’s talisman make a big-money transfer at some stage in the near future.
He’s already had to overcome a long-term injury problem in his young career, but he looks as good as ever right now.
He’s now got four goals and seven assists in his opening 12 Leverkusen appearances across all competitions this season.
Kai Havertz was the breakout star from Leverkusen a few years ago. Our gut feeling is that Wirtz may be able to eclipse him in terms of ability and potential, though.
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