Leverkusen and Munich had two brilliant players called up for the national team. Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala are ready to dominate European football.
Florian Wirtz had a perfect debut
Wirtz made his Bundesliga debut in a 4-1 win at Werder Bremen in May 2020, replacing Kai Havertz – who scored twice that day – as Leverkusen’s youngest ever player just 16 days past his 17th birthday. Little more than two weeks later he was steering his first top-flight goal beyond Manuel Neuer no less, and although he was subsequently overtaken by Borussia Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko as the league’s youngest scorer, Wirtz is now the greenest player ever to reach 10 Bundesliga goals, something he managed 208 days quicker than former Germany superstar Lukas Podolski.
Little more than two months older than Wirtz, Musiala has been just as quick out of the blocks. His Bayern debut came in June 2020 when he replaced Thomas Müller in a 3-1 win over Freiburg at 17 years, three months and 26 days of age, making him the champions’ youngest ever player. His first Bundesliga goal was claimed in last season’s opening day 8-0 drubbing of Schalke, and he added a UEFA Champions League strike to his collection in a 4-1 win over Lazio in February, making him Bayern’s youngest goalscorer in both competitions. He is now the first 18-year-old to have five Bayern goals to his name.
Combo of these players will be deadly for Germany
Whilst both are nominally attacking midfielders, Wirtz has evolved into something of a midfield string-puller this season, in this, just his second campaign of Bundesliga football. Last term, Wirtz lined up on the flanks – invariably the right one – in more than half of his Leverkusen appearances, but this season he is literally central to everything Die Werkself do, playing 369 Bundesliga minutes at No.10 with two from Moussa Diaby, Karim Bellarabi and Paulinho either side of him.