With recent reports suggesting that Aston Villa’s owners will provide sufficient financial backing for Steven Gerrard to do with as he sees fit to improve his squad at the Midlands club during the January transfer window, it seems as though the former Rangers boss has his eye on one player that could add some quality to his side.
According to a recent club-by-club transfer guide from the Daily Mail, Villa are interested in signing Bayer Leverkusen attacker Florian Wirtz this month.
Since joining Leverkusen’s U19 side back in the 2020 January transfer window, the 18-year-old has gone on to score two goals and provide three assists in four U19 appearances before becoming a fully-fledged member of their senior team.
In 68 senior appearances with the German club, Wirtz has managed to bag 17 times and provide 19 assists along the way, showing just how much of an attacking talent he is.
In 20 appearances across the Bundesliga and Europa League so far this season, the teenager has chipped in with eight strikes and 11 assists, which goes to show how valuable he is to Leverkusen and why it could be difficult to secure a deal for him in January.
Labelled as a player that has the “total package” in terms of his playing ability by Germany head coach Hansi Flick, Wirtz, who is currently valued at £63m according to Transfermarkt, has four senior international appearances under his belt, showing how highly thought of he is at such a young age.
Clearly a talented young player, Wirtz is also supremely versatile, with the teenager having played in a number of different midfield and attacking positions during his short career so far.
Taking all of this into account, Villa’s owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens should definitely explore the possibility of securing a deal for Wirtz this month. It’s a move, given his valuation, that would surely blow the Villa faithful away.
With reports suggesting that Villa could look to move on the likes of Trezeguet, Bertrand Traore and Anwar El Ghazi, if either of those players were to leave Villa Park either this month or during the next summer transfer window, this could pave the way for Wirtz to join Gerrard’s side and potentially make his mark in the Premier League.
In other news: Gerrard can finally axe “frustrating” £47k-p/w dud who must never play for AVFC again – opinion
