Manchester City could reportedly be getting their hands on a player that Xabi Alonso once said has similar qualities to Lionel Messi.
Earlier today, it was reported that the Manchester club have identified Bayer Leverkusen winger Florian Wirtz as a potential replacement for Riyad Mahrez.
To give a bit of insight into what sort of player he is, one former player, who knows what it takes to play under Pep Guardiola, has previously shared his thoughts on the winger.
Alonso once said Wirtz is like Messi
Speaking back in January, the Leverkusen manager, who made 79 appearances under Guardiola during their time together at Bayern Munich, had this to say about Wirtz.
He said: “There are good players and there are players who look good on the pitch. The player who looks good does things that are nice, but not necessarily efficient.
“Why is Messi so good? Because he knows how and when to play simple passes. Messi says: ‘You’re in a better position? Here, there you have the ball!’ It’s not always about making the most brilliant move, but the best and smartest. Florian can do that. That’s why he’s so good.”
With 103 appearances for Leverkusen to his name, the 20-year-old has scored 23 goals and delivered 30 assists along the way.
Despite spending a large portion of last season out with an injury, the youngster was still able to find the net four times and provide eight assists across 25 appearances.
Bearing in mind how Guardiola has previously shared his admiration for intelligent players, the fact that Alonso sees the young winger as someone that knows how to use the ball and his movement in a smart way makes it easy to see why the Citizens apparently have their eyes on him.
With that in mind and the clear attacking talent he has in terms of scoring goals and delivering assists, we feel that if City were to land a deal for the German, this could be a very exciting piece of business from the club.
