Florian Wirtz won’t be fit enough to feature for Bayer Leverkusen against FC Köln on Tuesday evening. The 19-year-old suffered an ACL injury in the same fixture in March and is yet to play since. However, Wirtz did return to team training last week and is working on his comeback.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s Bundesliga game against Köln, B04’s Xabi Alonso told reporters that the game comes too early and that Die Werkself will have to keep waiting. As for heading to the World Cup with Germany, Alonso added: “We’ll see what happens. It’ not our decision. He’s doing better but maybe the World Cup is still too early.”
Should Hansi Flick decide to include Wirtz in his 26-man squad, Alonso will back his decision, “Because I know what it means for a player to be nominated.” Flick will name his squad on November 10.
Alonso stated last month that he wouldn’t put any obstacles in the way of Wirtz being called up. Flick also hinted that the 19-year-old doesn’t have to necessarily be match fit, just to be able to prove his fitness in training.
GGFN | Daniel Pinder
