Florian Wirtz: some moments that shaped his rise
“People watch football because of players like Florian Wirtz”
Name: Florian Richard Wirtz
Age: 22 (born 3 May 2003)
Height: 5’8
Position: no. 10
Club: Liverpool FC
Florian grew up in a very humble household and had a simple life. His father was a teacher, there was no television at home and he didn't have a mobile phone until he was 12. He added in an interview “So I couldn't do anything other than be outside and get some exercise, I am very happy about that.” and “My parents liked to take us kids everywhere by bike.”
Florian started his football journey at SV Grün-Weiß Brauweiler, a grassroots club that plays in the lowest of all amateur leagues. There his father was his trainer before Florian left to join FC Koln.
When Florian was at FC Koln, he was training with a youth coach named Dommer, who also trained players like Julian Draxler. When Florian was around 14, one day his mother dropped into the training session to bring some snacks for the youngster and also to tell his youth coach that she received a parcel for Florian from a player consultancy agency. All outstanding 14/15 year old’s usually had an agent by then and Dommer asked his mother what was in the parcel. His mother said she had no idea as she returned it unopened. Her son didn’t need an agent until he was an adult, the parents were enough. To this day they are still his main advisors and as the way he was raised shines through his great character.
At 16, Bayer Leverkusen swooped him up, then Leverkusen Sporting Director Simon Rolfes knew him since the age of 14.
He became the youngest ever player to feature for Bayer Leverkusen and his first ever goal for the club came against Bayern Munich, a curled goal vs Manuel Neuer. He started his senior career wearing the number 27.
On Dec 2021, at the age of 18 he became the youngest Bundesliga player to reach 50 appearances.
His fastest ever goal scored was for Germany in a match vs France, where he scored a long ranger in just 7 seconds into the match
Florian Wirtz has nine siblings. He is the youngest of ten children. His sister, Juliane Wirtz, is also a professional footballer. His sister said in an interview “He and the ball were always just one; you could see that early on when I played against him or when we did things together with the football"
Florian had said in the past that despite featuring for many youth teams he did not think he had a professional career in football until he joined Bayer Leverkusen.
“I only really realized I would make it as a professional player when I joined Bayer 04 and was suddenly able to train with the senior players. It was completely different world”.
His first ever football jersey he had as a kid was of Lionel Messi’s from the Barcelona era. On his 18th birthday, his mother showed him a note from his time at primary school. The children had to write down what they wanted to be. “The only thing I'd written was: football player”
Xabi Alonso on Florian Wirtz:
'There are good players and there are players who look good on the pitch. The player who looks good does things that are nice, but not necessarily efficient.'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.'
