Wirtz rewriting Bundesliga history at Leverkusen

Where Moukoko earned numerous headlines even prior to his precocious professional career for his goalscoring exploits at youth level, Wirtz is perhaps more of an unorthodox - or at least unexpected - choice to become the first ever player to score five goals in Germany's top flight before turning 18.

The 17-year-old is a midfielder.

It is just the latest in a line of accolades already adorning a career which is not even nine months old. Since becoming Leverkusen's youngest ever debutant in a 4-1 win over Werder Bremen last May - replacing a certain Kai Havertz - Wirtz has become the youngest player ever to pull on a Germany Under-21 jersey, knocking almost half a year off Julian Draxler's previous record.

Those more than promising first few months earned him the national Fritz Walter prize for youth excellence in the Under-17 age group, and the new season has not provided any evidence that Wirtz's meteoric rise may eventually slow. In fact, Saturday's achievement in becoming the first ever 17-year-old to score five Bundesliga goals in his side's 5-2 win over VfB Stuttgart appears to be just another step on his way to stardom.

"He's 17 years old and he's a talented midfield player," Lothar Matthäus told bundesliga.com recently, saying Wirtz is his young player to watch in 2021.

"He will be the second Kai Havertz, who now plays at Chelsea," Matthäus continued. "He will go the same way as Havertz. In a few years, we will see him play for the German national team and we'll see him play for a big, big team in Europe."

In addition to his four goals and five assists in 17 Bundesliga outings this season, Wirtz has already opened his account in the DFB Cup and become the seventh-youngest goalscorer in UEFA Europa League history, while he already has two to his name in that competition this term.

"He does the whole club good," commented Lars Bender after Wirtz's recent winner against Borussia Dortmund. "Just look at what the lad can do with the ball - he's so fresh, lively and nonchalant."

Watch: Wirtz's brilliant winner against Dortmund

Whenever Wirtz has scored this season, Leverkusen have won. Hoffenheim, Cologne, Dortmund, Nice, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Eintracht Norderstedt and now Stuttgart have all learnt that the hard way.

Although Willy Bäumgartner's 1908 record of being the youngest player to play for Germany's senior national team is beyond even Wirtz, it would not come as such a surprise if Wirtz were to celebrate his first full year as a professional with a call-up to the national team for Euro 2020.

The one-year delay to that tournament could well be Wirtz's opportunity to write even more history in a career which already appears destined for greatness.