Florian Wirtz has revealed who his favourite player growing up was.
Liverpool fans might not be too pleased that he admitted it was former Arsenal star, Mesut Ozil.
Speaking on Liverpool’s official YouTube channel, the £116million man said, “My favourite player was, I think, Ozil, but also there were so many good players like Philip Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Muller, Klose, so many good players, yeah.”
Given his age and nationality, it is hardly surprising that he idolised Ozil, who was in his prime during Wirtz’s formative years.
Also being a German number ten, comparisons to Ozil have followed him since his breakout at Bayer Leverkusen.
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Wirtz is not the only one with high admiration for the 2014 World Cup winner. Arsenal target Morgan Rogers also recently named Ozil as the most creative midfielder he has ever seen.
Despite the difficult circumstances of his departure under Mikel Arteta, Ozil still has a strong affection for Arsenal, and congratulated the club on the Premier League title triumph last month.
Wirtz has not quite lived up to the huge expectations that came with his move to Liverpool, but he continues to perform well for Germany, where he plays behind Arsenal’s own Kai Havertz in the national team’s attacking setup.
Kai Havertz and Florian Wirtz could form a special partnership at the World Cup
The partnership between Wirtz and Havertz will be central to Germany’s hopes at the World Cup.
Havertz is heading into the tournament in incredible form, having scored in each of his last four starts for club and country.
The Arsenal striker is already being backed to win the Golden Boot by his Germany teammates.
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His man-of-the-match display in Germany’s 2-1 warm-up win over the USA showed just how ready he is for the biggest stage.
Germany begin their campaign on Sunday against Curacao in Group E, which also contains Ecuador and Ivory Coast.
If Wirtz and Havertz click, they could be a deadly combination — one channelling his inner Ozil, the other playing like the incredible striker he can be when he is fit and firing.
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