Florian Wirtz opens up his dream club, comparisons with Kai Havertz and his international future
Bayer Leverkusen wonderkid Florian Wirtz has opened up on his favorite club, comparisons with Kai Havertz and his dream of making his full international debut.
At the age of 17, Florian Wirtz has already managed to nail down a starting place at Bayer Leverkusen, with whom he recently signed a new contract until 2023.
Wirtz has surely caught the eye of Europe's top sides with his performances, and should the highly-rated midfielder want to take the step to a bigger club in the future, he would apparently prefer a move to Barcelona.
"As a little boy, I always wanted to play for Barcelona. Nothing has changed in this regard, but until then I still have some time," Wirtz revealed in an interview with Sport Bild.
Wirtz has been compared to Kai Havertz, who left Bayer Leverkusen for Chelsea last summer, and it's his ambition to become even better than his 21-year-old ex-teammate.
"In training, I try to emulate how he acts in front of goal and how he moves between the spaces," said Wirtz.
"It's an incentive for me to become even better than Kai. I always want to be the best and hate to lose."
After making his debut for Germany's U21s in October, Wirtz is now targeting a call-up to the senior side. Asked about his chances of making Germany coach Joachim Löw's squad for next year's European Championship, the 17-year-old responded:
"I'm not sure I can accomplish that dream yet. But the past few months have shown me that you can't plan many things," said Wirtz, who claims he has had no contact with Löw yet.
"My contact at the DFB is [under-21 coach] Stefan Kuntz," insisted the 17-year-old.