Florian Wirtz looks set to become the most expensive transfer in Premier League history, so what, exactly, will Liverpool be getting?
With the help of our partners at FotMob, we take a deep look into Wirtz’s data and how he compares to the rest.
Last season’s form and data
The 22-year-old, voted the Bundesliga’s Players’ Player of the Season, played 2,355 minutes in 31 league matches, scoring 10 and assisting 12.
His FotMob average rating of 7.69 is the sixth highest in the division, with only Omar Marmoush, Michael Olise, Harry Kane, Joshua Kimmich and Jamal Musiala rating higher.
He twice scored a 9.3 rating – against Freiburg when he scored one and assisted three in one match, and against Salzburg when he scored two and assisted one in the Champions League league phase.
His highest rating of the season, though, was on international duty for Germany, scoring a 9.4 rating in a 7-0 thrashing of Bosnia and Herzegovina when he scored two and assisted one.
Wirtz’s form remained pretty consistent throughout the season, with no sustained period of poor performance.
Two consecutive 9.2 ratings in September against Feyenoord and Wolfsburg provided a high point.
Shot types
Wirtz took 78 shots, with 50 percent of them hitting the target and 10 finding the back of the net – which is almost perfectly inline with his expected goals of 9.99.
A player outperforming their xG, as Darwin Nunez was with Benfica, can be a concern as to whether it can be maintained. That’s not an issue with Wirtz.
Thirty of his 78 shots were from outside the box. For way of comparison, Mo Salah registered only 11 shots from outside the box last season.
Chance creation
Wirtz created 57 chances, 17 of them considered as ‘big chances’ (29.8%). Only Salah (89 chances, 27 big chances; 30.3%) from the Liverpool squad registered more.
Quite what Wirtz could produce in a Liverpool team is very exciting.
Passing quality
In terms of passing numbers, Wirtz is absolutely elite.
- Top 100th percentile for successful passes (50.03 per 90)
- 85th percentile for chances created (2.18 per 90)
- 88th percentile for long ball accuracy (70.8%)
A crossing accuracy of just 14 percent perhaps points at a weakness there, or possibly that he attempts the riskier and more difficult to execute final pass.
Dribbling
This is where it gets even more exciting. Wirtz’s successful dribbles per 90 minutes of 3.13 is far higher than any other Liverpool player last season.
The Reds’ highest was Luis Diaz (1.98). The Colombian’s successful dribble rate of 50 percent is almost identical to Wirtz’s (50.9%).
Defensive work
While Wirtz played 40 of his 45 games for Bayer Leverkusen last season as a No. 10, he is still required to play his part off the ball.
As Arne Slot has placed an emphasis on his players winning duels, it is important to note how Wirtz is in the 77th percentile of those in his position when it comes to duels won (6.19 per 90).
Impressively, he is in the 97th percentile for possession won in the final third (1.34 per 90).
The joint-highest in the Liverpool squad are Diaz and Curtis Jones, both on 0.8 per 90, while Dominik Szoboszlai averaged 0.6 per 90 as an attacking midfielder.
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