Florian Wirtz plays down Barcelona talk amid recent rumours

Bayer Leverkusen attacker Florian Wirtz has played down suggestions that he has held talks over a potential move to Barcelona either this summer or at the end of the 2023-24 campaign.

The 19-year-old missed the first half of the season with a serious knee injury, but he has fully overcome the problem over the last couple of months.

Wirtz boasts a record of two goals and six assists in 13 appearances for Leverkusen during the 2022-23 campaign, including two goals and two assists in four Europa League outings.

German journalist Florian Plettenberg recently claimed that Barcelona had been in touch with the youngster's camp to discuss a potential move to Camp Nou.

However, Wirtz has claimed that he was "a bit confused" by the speculation, having not spoken about a possible switch to the La Liga leaders.

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"I have not spoken with my father about this, regarding Barcelona transfer - I was a bit confused by the links as well. I just read about it, I want to focus on Leverkusen and be successful. I'm not looking into the future now," Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano quotes Wirtz as saying.

German journalist Christian Falk recently claimed that the teenager would be staying with Leverkusen until at least the summer of 2024, when he will hope to represent Germany at the European Championship.

"I've been in Leverkusen to meet Rudi Voller (Leverkusen sporting director) and Florian Wirtz, who is a target of many clubs in Europe, but has decided to stay in Leverkusen minimum until 2024 for the European Championship," the journalist wrote in his column for CaughtOffside.

Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have also been credited with an interest in the attacker, who has a record of 21 goals and 28 assists in 91 appearances for Leverkusen in all competitions.

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There had been concerns over the seriousness of the knee injury that Wirtz suffered in March 2022, but the German has revealed that he has now recovered fully.

"I have no more pain or after-effects," he told reporters. "We have reached the goal of getting the knee back to 100%. I think there's still a few percentages to optimise.

"I will continue to work over the next few weeks. I still have the same mindset and nothing has changed since the injury."

Wirtz came through the youth system at Koln before arriving at Leverkusen in 2020, making his first-team debut for the club in May of the same year.

The youngster is currently with the Germany squad preparing for their friendly matches against Peru and Belgium on March 25 and March 28 respectively.