Bundesliga
Wirtz becomes the youngest player to reach 10 Bundesliga goals
Florian Wirtz has become the youngest player to reach 10 Bundesliga goals, finding the target for Bayer Leverkusen against Mainz at the tender age of 18 years, four months and 23 days.
Wirtz overtakes another Cologne youth product, former Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Germany star Lukas Podolski, as the youngest player ever to reach double figures in the German top-flight.
“We know he’s a very talented player who’s in very good form at the moment and is really calm in his head," said Leverkusen head coach Gerardo Seoane of the teenager after the final whistle.
Watch: Seoane discusses Wirtz
"What we’re very happy about with him is that he’s giving a lot of effort for the team, training very well, has a good personality and is very happy to play for the team. It’s not just his own performances which are most important, but the life of the team.”
Leverkusen captain Lukas Hradecky was also full of praise for the team's increasingly important creative fulcrum. "He's an incredible player," said the Finnish goalkeeper.
"Now it's important that he keeps his feet on the ground in the changing room. But he's doing really well and is working really hard on himself."
Sporting director Rudi Völler this week claimed Wirtz could match former Leverkusen starlet Kai Havertz on the world stage, and the youngster seems to be making good on that faith in him.
Wirtz now has four goals and four assists to his name this season, plundered at a rate of one every 37 minutes he has played.