Tottenham Hotspur are the latest club to be linked to Florian Wirtz ahead of the January transfer window…
What’s the word?
According to Sport Bild, Spurs have entered the race to sign the 18-year-old Bayer Leverkusen sensation, who has also been intensely scouted by Premier League rivals Newcastle United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool.
It’s thought that the 5 foot 9 attacking midfielder would command a fee in excess of €100m (£90m) as he’s under contract at the BayArena until 2026.
Transfermarkt currently value the four-cap German international at £58.5m, whilst some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, are also keen.
No.10 solution
Wirtz has emerged as a real star of the future over in Germany and he has certainly helped fill the void left behind at Leverkusen by Kai Havertz, who left for Chelsea over a year ago.
Whilst Bayer head coach Gerardo Seoane has found a solution from within, Nuno Santo is still looking for a man to step up and take aboard the creative burden of his inconsistent Spurs side.
Indeed, the north Londoners have not sufficiently replaced Christian Eriksen, who left the club in January 2020. Neither Tanguy Ndombele (18 goal contributions in 83 games) nor Giovani Lo Celso (13 contributions in 76 games) have regularly stepped up to the plate since their arrivals in summer 2019.
Similarly, Dele Alli’s fall from grace makes it hard to imagine that he is the man either, especially as the Lilywhites’ hierarchy now seem open to selling him in January, per The Athletic.
Spurs rank amongst the lowest in the Premier League for average number of shots per game (10.4, second-worst) and expected goals (9.48, third-worst), so that only goes to show how much they have struggled in the final third. Harry Kane is bereft of proper service – if the Danish playmaker were here, he’d be looking a whole lot better, that’s for sure.
Eriksen delivered a goal or assist every 151.6 minutes during his time in N17.
Wirtz could hold the keys to this problem.
The teenage wonderkid has already provided six goals and six assists in only 11 appearances across the Bundesliga and Europa League this term, which means that he’s well on course to usurp last season’s already impressive exploits of eight goals and eight assists, as per Transfermarkt.
His end product isn’t the only key attribute – for example, in just 30 minutes for Germany against Armenia, he created four key chances, whilst ESPN have noted that his passing is near-perfect in every match.
“Florian is one of the most impressive talents in Germany,” said Stefan Kuntz, the Germany U21 coach who handed Wirtz his debut.
Also dubbed a “special player” by teammate Julian Baumgartlinger and an “elite talent” by scout Jacek Kulig, Wirtz could be exactly what Spurs need to resolve their problems in attack, so Fabio Paratici and co must look to complete a move for him at all costs.
He’s a player who, on the above evidence, would really excite the Lilywhites faithful.
AND in other news, Spurs could seal huge Winks upgrade in “dangerous” 27-cap gem, won’t cost ENIC a penny…