Last Saturday night, the best player in the sixth round of the Bundesliga did not say much, because his success in all aspects was manifested by practical actions. Florian Wiltz, 18-year-old Bayer Leverkusen, who recently passed his high school leaving exams, has now helped the team climb to second place in the Bundesliga table, leaving Dortmund, Wolfsburg and others behind.
Bayer Leverkusen beat Mainz 1-0, Scoring Wertz's only goal of the game and his fourth league goal of the season, scoring 10 goals in the Bundesliga, becoming the youngest player in the Bundesliga to score double digits at age 145. The record he broke belonged to Podolski, who scored his 10th league goal in 2004 at the age of 18, 353 days in a Cologne shirt, when Wiltz had just turned one year old. Interestingly, Podolski was the "prince" of cologne, while Wiltz was born in the small town of Pulheim-Brauweiler, which is immediately east of Cologne, and he grew up in Cologne listening to Podolski's legends until his move to Leverkusen last January.
Wiltz and Podolski are different types of players. Podolski became famous during the low points of German football, playing the main role as a left winger or striker, while Wiltz could be a winger, a second striker, or an organizer in midfield. Bayer Leverkusen general manager Waller said: "He is one of the best players in this age group. After this summer, he became stronger and more powerful. In every game this season, you can see his promotion, which is exciting. ”
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Wertz will have a more remarkable career than Podolski's, and the German media are very sure of it. Although he was also a teenager, unlike Podolsky, Wertz did not stay in Cologne for as long as Podolski did, but chose to take the next step in his career early and move to Bayer Leverkusen, who had a chance to play in Europe. The young man is very mature, he has made the leap from the youth team to the German national team in less than two years, and the praise he hears is endless, but he has always maintained a down-to-earth attitude. After moving to Bayer Leverkusen, Wertz went through three managers, Bosch, Wolff and Sevane, and he was appreciated by every manager to move steadily towards his goal.
"He's our next superstar," Bild predicted. Wiltz was born in the small town of Pulheim, east of Cologne. At the age of 3, his father Hans-Joachim Wiltz took him to play for the Blauweiler Green and White Club, his first team, mainly because the club was only 2 minutes away from the Wertz family. Hans-Joachim Wiltz said in an interview: "Florian was so preoccupied with football at a very young age. ”
At the age of 7, Wiltz Jr. had already made a name for himself in the youth clubs of the Rhine region, and Cologne came to him and invited him to join. Wertz spent 9 years in the Cologne youth team. In the 2018/19 season, Wertz helped Cologne U17 win the national league title in the same class, and the following year he led the team to the first place in the West End League as captain. However, this season did not finish, Wiltz was poached by regional rival Bayer Leverkusen, and Cologne only received 300,000 euros in training fees.
After Wiltz made his debut for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, Cologne's youth director Jakobs was very sorry: "Florian can do anything. He is extremely engaged in the game, has excellent technique, incredible game understanding, and can quickly pass the ball. As long as he stays healthy, he can at least be a player like Havertz. He has a lot of potential and a lot of willpower, I've rarely seen an attacking player so willing to come back and help with the defense, you know he has a strong offensive ability, but he is also very willing to win every fight when defending. ”
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Even with extremely high estimates of Wertz's potential, his ascent is faster than many people can imagine. In May 2020, manager Boss placed Wertz in his starting line-up against Bremen, when he was 17 years old and 15 days old, less than four months after joining Bayer Leverkusen. Wiltz became Bayer Leverkusen's youngest player in Bundesliga history, third in league history. At the end of the season, Wiltz made nine appearances for Bayer Leverkusen in league, cup and European competitions.
In the summer of 2020, Bayer Leverkusen lost top star Havertz, and Wertz, who has long been used to compare with Havertz, took on the heavy responsibility and seized the opportunity to secure his position in the main squad. In May, Bayer Leverkusen extended his contract with The 18-year-old Wertz to an early three-year contract, and Revelts further became the core of the team's frontcourt in the new season. Bayer Leverkusen scored 16 goals in the first six rounds, including 4 assists and 4 goals in 4 assists, directly involving half of the team's goals. This statistic is based on the fact that he missed Round 1 due to an adductor injury and came off the bench in Rounds 2 and 3, so Wiltz is the most efficient attacking player in the Bundesliga, averaging 37 minutes to score a goal. As long as Wiltz plays, he must have gained, beating Ferenc Bucharest 2-1 in the Europa League, and he scored the winning goal.
In the Bundesliga, only Borussia Dortmund striker Haaland scored more goals than Wertz, but not as efficiently as he did. Manager Sevane said: "Florian always finds the shot position, his mind is clear enough to make the right decisions and keep the big picture in perspective. Bayer Leverkusen manager Raulfez said: "Florian has strong control over the game and in addition we can see his fighting spirit in every training session and in every game. According to statistics, Wiltz's average 90-minute run is 12.1 km, with a 46% success rate, which is a staggering number for an attacking player. Bayer Leverkusen captain Gerardecky said: "Florian is a great guy. The most important thing now is that he keeps his feet on the ground. I'm sure he can do that and I see his efforts in training. ”
Not only did his status at the club rise rapidly, but Wiltz also soared in the national team. A year ago, he made his debut for the German U21 national team and made his debut for the German national team on September 2 this year, and the new coach Frick sees him as the key to the team's rebuilding. If it weren't for the slightly conservative nature of former manager Loew, Wertz would even have a chance to compete in this year's European Championships. But Wertz didn't "waste" his time either, he led the German youth team to the European Youth Championship. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said: "Wertz is a player with a very strong intuition, with the ability to accurately find the weaknesses of the opponent and seize the opportunity. From this perspective, he surpassed Havertz, who was four years older. A year ago, Bayer Leverkusen sold Haveltz to Chelsea for nearly 100 million euros, and Wiltz was the club's base for doing so, and now he is valuing it at around €45 million on the Transfer Markets website.
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There is no doubt that such Wiltz is the focus of the observation of the big club. Reif, a well-known German sports show host, said: "If anyone thinks Bayern has no interest in Wiltz, it must be crazy. Go and ask Salihamidzic if he pays attention to the name. Bayern is definitely a club willing to sign this player. ”
Dortmund chairman Váczk said in an interview with The Courier: "Of course we would love to have Havertz, and it must be admitted that we have followed him for a long time. Bayer Leverkusen signed him as a great move, but for Cologne, who nurtured him, it was a shame. "It's just that Dortmund lost to Bayer Leverkusen in the competition, and a big reason is that Bayer Leverkusen is closer to Cologne and Wiltz can easily complete high school.
Spanish media reported that La Liga giants Barca were watching Wertz, a club that had been Wertz's dream. He said in January: "As a child, I always dreamed of playing for Barca and now it hasn't changed. But to achieve this goal, I have enough time. Wiltz's contract with Bayer Leverkusen ends in 2026, said general manager Wallerer: "I read in the media that he had a liquidated damages clause, which in fact was not. ”
Now Wiltz is not in a hurry to join the giants, he knows that staying in Bayer Leverkusen is in his best interests for his development, there is the best hardware and software environment here, there are European games to play, and the pressure on him as the main force is relatively small. Hans-Joachim Wiltz, who is also an agent, said: "Florian will definitely play for Bayer Leverkusen in the next two years, and it is not known what will happen after that. His focus is now entirely on Bayer Leverkusen and the national team. German journalist Holtmann also revealed that Bayer Leverkusen has an agreement with Wertz to agree to his transfer as early as 2023 if a satisfactory offer is received. That is to say, if other clubs are interested in signing this talented teenager, they must be patient.