Whenever Bayer Leverkusen star attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz decides to leave the current Bundesliga champions for a new challenge, he will be the most coveted name on the transfer market.
Despite being just 20 years of age, Wirtz has multiple seasons worth of high-level play in the German top flight, as he is currently working on his second season with double-digit assists.
Wirtz has scored 11 goals and 11 assists as the main star for Leverkusen in this title-winning season, standing out as one of the world’s finest playmakers with 2.6 dribbles completed and 2.4 key passes per game.
Bayern Munich lost their streak of 11 straight Bundesliga titles to Leverkusen this season, and there is a fear among German football fans that Die Roten could try to take some more top stars away from the new league leaders.
Even before Leverkusen won the title, though, Florian Wirtz was at the top of the Bayern Munich transfer wishlist, and Uli Hoeneß appears to be highly keen on getting his hands on the biggest German star who isn’t playing for Bayern.
A duo of Wirtz and Jamal Musiala at Bayern Munich would be the envy of so many clubs around European football, and beating Real Madrid, Barcelona, and top Premier League clubs to the German playmaker would be huge.
The thing is, Sky Sports reporter Florian Plettenberg reports that while Wirtz is indeed interested in Bayern Munich, he and his family only see the Bavarians as an “intermediate” stepping stone to another club outside Germany.
It’s outrageous to think that Bayern Munich, the 2019/20 treble winners and one of the most elite footballing institutions in the history of this sport, could ever be uttered as a mere stepping stone.
But in the context of the report, it seems as if Wirtz views the Bundesliga as being too small and that a move to Bayern Munich would be a step up from Bayer Leverkusen before a bigger step to an elite club outside Germany.
It’s a subtle dig at what the perception of the Bundesliga has become in modern football, including from young German superstars who are currently shining in the country’s top division.
Bayern fans won’t take kindly to being slighted, even in a report, because there is nothing about the “Mia San Mia” mentality that deserves to be seen as a step to something else. To Bayern, they are the final boss, even above Real Madrid.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He has been an editor for NFL Spin Zone, Daily DDT for pro wrestling, Autzen Zoo covering the Oregon Ducks, Musket Fire covering the New England Patriots, The Real Champs covering Real Madrid, Old Juve covering Juventus, Rush The Kop covering Liverpool, and Release The Knappen covering Schalke. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.