Florian Wirtz joined Liverpool in June 2025 having established himself as one of the leading talents of his generation in Germany.

A gifted attacking midfielder equally comfortably in scoring goals and supplying them, he advanced through the youth ranks during a decade at Cologne before switching to Bayer Leverkusen at the beginning of 2020 and truly beginning his ascendancy.

Wirtz debuted for Leverkusen just a fortnight after his 17th birthday in May of that year and within a few more weeks had opened his Bundesliga scoring account – a goal against Bayern Munich making him the youngest player ever to net in the division at the time.

He was swiftly integrated into the senior set-up, making 69 appearances in all competitions for Leverkusen in the two seasons that followed – which included 18 goals.

The speed of his progress was reflected by the fact of becoming the youngest player to tally 50 matches in the Bundesliga.

In between times, Wirtz was part of Germany’s winning squad at the U21 European Championship in 2021, providing both goals in the semi-final success over the Netherlands and starting the showpiece victory against Portugal.

An anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in March 2022 temporarily halted his rapid development, however, and ruled Wirtz out of action until the following January.

But he returned better than ever and 2023-24 would prove to be a watershed and historic season for the player himself and Leverkusen collectively.

Under the stewardship of former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, the man from Pulheim was a leading figure in a scarcely believable campaign that saw Bayer navigate the whole German top-flight season without losing a game.

In fact, they were only defeated once in 53 fixtures overall, completing a double by lifting the German cup and narrowly missing out on a treble due to defeat by Atalanta in the Europa League final.

Wirtz’s personal contributions to those achievements included 49 appearances and a remarkable 38 goal contributions – split between 18 strikes of his own and 20 assists for others.

He was duly named Bundesliga Player of the Season having been instrumental in Leverkusen’s first German championship success since the club was founded in 1904.

Still just 21, Wirtz then made five appearances for his country at Euro 2024 and scored twice, including a goal off the bench in their quarter-final exit versus eventual tournament winners Spain.

By now, interest in extracting the attacker and many of his teammates from the Leverkusen squad was only increasing, though he remained at the club for the 2024-25 campaign.

And Wirtz’s output continued to be eye-catchingly impressive, specifically 31 goal contributions (16 goals, 15 assists) from his 45 games, which included his first taste of Champions League football.

He took to the latter like the proverbial duck to water, scoring six times in nine appearances and marking his debut in the competition with two goals in a 4-0 win at Feyenoord.

Wirtz has now opted for a fresh challenge in the form of Premier League champions Liverpool, sealing a transfer to the Reds as they plot to build on the success of Arne Slot’s first year in charge.