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Liverpool's Florian Wirtz has been named Germany's Player of the Year for the 2024-25 season, following an impressive campaign with Bayer Leverkusen.
According to Kicker, the 22-year-old, who joined Liverpool in June, secured 191 votes, beating Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise (81), Stuttgart’s Nick Woltemade (71), and Thomas Muller (70), who recently moved to MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps after 17 years at Bayern.
The 22-year-old German was signed by the Reds for a staggering initial fee of $133 million, with potential add-ons pushing the total to $156 million. Last season, the dynamic midfielder contributed 22 goal involvements in 25 league starts, just a year after making a comeback from an ACL injury.
"I can't think of a more worthy successor than you," former winner Toni Kroos said about Wirtz.
The Player of the Year award has been voted on since 1960, with a separate managers’ award introduced in 2002. Franz Beckenbauer holds the record for most player wins with four, while Jürgen Klopp and Felix Magath have each won the manager award three times.
Wirtz has been praised as one of the world’s top players, with former Leverkusen coach and ex-Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso calling him "world class."
After joining Liverpool, Wirtz told the club’s website that he "would like to win everything every year."
“In the end, we want to be successful,” he said. “Last season they won the Premier League, so my goal is definitely to win it again and also to go further in the Champions League. I’m really ambitious".
Wirtz played a pivotal role in Leverkusen’s most successful season in 2023/24, when the team claimed its first-ever Bundesliga title and German Cup without losing a single domestic game under Alonso’s guidance.
The team's only defeat that season came in the Europa League final against Italian side Atalanta, denying Leverkusen a historic treble, and saw Wirtz crowned Bundesliga Player of the Year.
With 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 appearances for the German side, Wirtz has proven himself both a creative force and a clinical goalscorer.
Wirtz was also voted the league’s Player of the Season by Kicker readers (Harry Kane won the official award) and earned a spot in his third Bundesliga Team of the Season during his remarkable, yet brief, career.
On Thursday, he also joined his Reds' teammates, Mohammed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Alexis Mac Allister on the 30-man 2025 Ballon d'Or shortlist.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot was named to the Ballon d'Or's Manager of the Year shortlist after leading the Reds to a Premier League campaign in his maiden English campaign.
While Alisson Becker was once again nominated for the Yashin Award, given to the world's best goalkeeper. The Brazilian between the sticks already captured the honor in 2019.
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