Rolfes comments on Wirtz's injury and future

Simon Rolfes has given an update on the injury Florian Wirtz suffered on international duty and discussed the future of the highly-rated youngster.

After Florian Wirtz was forced off at the break of Germany’s 1-0 win over the Netherlands on Monday, Bayer Leverkusen have revealed that the attacking midfielder is currently sidelined with an ankle capsule injury. 

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Wirtz will miss the upcoming Bundesliga clash with Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, as Bayer Leverkusen’s managing director for sport, Simon Rolfes, told Sky Germany in an interview published on Thursday. 

“We haven’t announced that he’s unavailable, only why he was substituted. He didn’t train yesterday and received treatment. We’ll see how it goes and whether he’ll be available for the Frankfurt game or not. In any case, it won’t be a very long story,” Rolfes told the German media outlet. 

Wirtz’s long-term future at Leverkusen has been called into question, with some reports suggesting he could be on the move in 2025.

But Rolfes isn’t spending too much time thinking about whether or not Wirtz will be sold next summer.

“Florian is an incredibly important player for us. There has been a lot of speculation, but internally – and I’ve stressed this many times – the dialogue with him and his family is very open and based on trust,” he emphasized. 

“The focus has always been on what’s good for his development at Bayer 04, so we’re not really worried about whether he’ll be sold or not. He is here! We want to work with him, use his qualities here and be successful with him.”