Florian Wirtz is currently working hard on his comeback. The Germany international suffered a serious injury to his left knee in the derby against FC Köln on matchday 26 – the diagnosis: a torn cruciate. The talented forward first faces a period of rehab before making his return to the training ground. And there's a surprise from teammate Amine Adli on his birthday. Here's the video.
Before his injury, Wirtz got off to a flying start under the Bayer Cross. After his move from the youth set-up at FC Köln in January 2020, the Puhlheim-born midfielder did not need time to settle in and soon after arriving as a youth player he was in the Bundesliga team within a few months.
Wirtz first made his entry into the club history books at the age of 17 years, one month and three days in June 2020 as the youngest goalscorer: Playing at the BayArena, the Bayer 04 number 27 beat no less a figure than Manuel Neuer, the Bayern Munich and Germany goalkeeper, with a curler into the far corner. Wirtz became the second youngest goalscorer in Germany's top flight behind BVB youngster Youssoufa Moukoko.
The Leverkusen forward made his Bundesliga debut five matchdays earlier on 18 May 2020 in the away game at Werder Bremen. The then Werkself coach Peter Bosz put the young right-footer (17 years, 15 days) straight into the starting line-up and played him on the right flank. Wirtz was then the youngest Bundesliga player in the club's history but his place was taken in November of the following year by the talented youngsters Zidan Sertdemir and Iker Bravo.
Wirtz established another impressive record on 15 December 2021: In the Werkself home game against TSG Hoffenheim, the right-footer played in his 50th Bundesliga game. Back then he was the youngest player in Germany's top flight to achieve that record at the age of 18 years, 7 months and 12 days. Wirtz has now played 60 games in the Bundesliga. He has clocked up an impressive 19 goals and 22 assists in 79 matches across all competitions for the Werkself.
The versatile forward won over the key managers at the German Football Association (DFB) at an early age. Wirtz played for Germany for the first time with the U15s and he went on to play in the U16, U17 and U19 teams before Stefan Kuntz called him up to the U21 side for the first time in October 2020.
Wirtz was particularly impressive in the finals of the U21 European Championships in 2021: The Werkself player scored both goals in the 2-1 semi-final victory against the Netherlands. His first goal was in the back of the Oranje net after 29 seconds and that was the fastest ever goal in the history of the U 21 European Championships. Wirtz and Co. were able to beat Portugal 1-0 in the final and were crowned the U21 European Champions – also thanks to Wirtz.
The Bayer 04 player is now part of the Germany team. He made his debut under the new coach Hansi Flick in September 2021 in a 2-0 win against Liechtenstein in the World Cup qualifiers. At the age of 18 years, three months and 30 days back then, Wirtz became the eighth youngest Germany player ever. Since then he has made another three international appearances.
The brother of Juliane Wirtz, who plays for the Bayer 04 Women's team, received an individual award in August 2020: The DFB awarded the Leverkusen youngster the gold Fritz Walter medal in the U17 age group.
One thing is certain: After he makes his comeback, Florian Wirtz will be on course to clock up more records…
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 0-1 loss against TSG Hoffenheim on the 19th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without defender Loïc Badé for the time being. The Frenchman suffered a muscle injury in his right thigh in Saturday’s 1-0 Bundesliga defeat at FC Union Berlin. The diagnosis was the result of an MRI scan this Sunday morning.
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It is an expression of solidarity and a tribute to the unique fan culture Under the Cross: Bayer 04 Leverkusen make a special statement with the "50 Years of Fan Clubs" jersey. To mark the founding of the "First Fan Club 1976 Leverkusen", which was followed by many more over the years right up to the present day, the Bundesliga club is commemorating 50 years of passion with this new jersey. Highs and lows, successes celebrated together as well as defeats suffered are manifested in this piece of white fabric, a symbol of unwavering identification with the Werkself.
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