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New Liverpool acquisition Florian Wirtz doesn't have to prove he's world-class with his new club. On Thursday, he joined his Reds' teammates, Mohammed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Alexis Mac Allister on the 30-man 2025 Ballon d'Or shortlist.
The German 21-year-old, signed for an eyewatering fee starting at £100 million ($133 million, potentially rising to $156 million) plus add-ons, was one of the best players in the Bundesliga a season ago.
Wirtz was named the league's Player of the Season in a vote via Kicker (Harry Kane captured the official award) and was named to his third Bundesliga Team of the Season in his remarkable short career. The mercurial midfielder produced 22 goal involvements across 25 league starts, coming just a year after he recovered from an ACL injury.
Some of his numbers underneath the hood slightly dropped from a prodigal 2023/24 campaign where Bayer Leverkusen shocked the footballing establishment and finished the league campaign as unbeaten champions.
That year, Wirtz produced a tidy 0.60 non-penalty xG+xA per 90 minutes, one of the best marks for a non-out-and-out forward in a top European league.
That number fell to 0.5 last season: still strong but not quite as strong. Most of his distributive numbers remained elite: Wirtz ranked amongst the very best across Europe's top five leagues in an array of passing stats
Per FBRef, the German playmaker excelled int passes completed (51.22 per 90, 99th percentile), expected assists (0.34, 94th), key passes (2.37, 88th), through balls (0.98, 98th), shot-creating actions (0.87, 96th), carries (45.81, 97th), and passes received (61.26, 99th).
Wirtz, who scored a further six goals in the Champions League, is still unlikely to challenge the likes of Salah, who scored 29 goals in the Premier League.
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.
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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