Florian Wirtz Is Already Running England’s Creativity Race — And He Has Not Even Hit Top Gear

There is a reason everyone is talking about Florian Wirtz again. Opta’s widely shared graphic for this season’s all competitions chance creation shows a straight shootout at the top: 21 chances created by Wirtz and 21 by Jack Grealish, with Bryan Mbeumo on 18 and Bruno Fernandes on 17. 

That snapshot tells a bigger story than a viral post. It captures how Wirtz has walked into a new league and immediately shaped the shot quality and rhythm of a Premier League attack. The original leaderboard comes from Opta’s social feed and has been amplified across platforms, reflecting current form rather than last year’s reputation. 

The fee and fanfare set expectations sky high, yet the underlying numbers are doing the talking already. Reuters’ transfer coverage underlined both the size of the deal and the logic behind it, while ESPN added detail on why Liverpool spent big for a playmaker who bends shot maps to his will. 

Where Everyone Stands Right Now

Accuracy about current clubs is non-negotiable. Wirtz is a Liverpool player after his June 2025 switch, and he is the new creative fulcrum at Anfield. Grealish is at Everton on loan from Manchester City for the 2025 to 2026 season, a move confirmed by both club announcements and major outlets. 

Mbeumo left Brentford for Manchester United in July and has already been part of the early-season churn at Old Trafford. Fernandes remains Manchester United captain and the heartbeat of their chance creation from midfield. These are the facts on October 1, 2025. 

Now fold that information back into the Opta table. Wirtz and Grealish are level at the top on 21, but they are doing it for very different teams and in very different tactical situations. 

Wirtz has arrived to be the main connector for a Liverpool side that loves half-space combinations and quick third-man runs. 

Context matters. Wirtz only arrived in England this summer after Liverpool broke their transfer record to sign him from Bayer Leverkusen, a move that followed his starring role in a domestic double under Xabi Alonso. 

Grealish has been handed a central role at Everton where responsibility and touches flow through him, which explains the surge in creation volume and the early recognition he has received this season. 

Why Wirtz Leads The Pack

Chance creation is not a vanity metric for Wirtz. It is a window into how he tilts the pitch. At Leverkusen, he learned to break compact blocks with disguised reverse passes and quick give-and-go patterns around the edge of the area.

He is now replicating that in England, even though he has had a lot of stick from fans and pundits for not having any impact, well, that’s not the case. 

Look closely at the Liverpool build-up. There is a repeating sequence where the ball is progressed into Wirtz between the lines, a wide runner pins the fullback, and a late-arriving midfielder or forward attacks the cutback lane. 

Those are the situations that rack up key passes even on nights when the final finish does not arrive. Recruitment teams care because sustained chance creation tends to stabilize over a season. Output like goals can ebb and flow with variance, while key passes and expected assists trends tell you whether a player is consistently putting teammates in positions to shoot. 

The Liverpool record fee starts to look like value when the new signing immediately sits atop a cross-competition chart built by the most trusted data provider in the sport. Reuters’ report emphasised the scale of the investment and framed the signing as a statement about where Liverpool want to be. 

That is the context behind a single leaderboard graphic doing serious numbers on social feeds. 

Narratives move fast. Some radio chatter has already leaned into early frustration about end product. Patience is usually wise with an elite creator adapting to a new league and new patterns, especially when the underlying creativity is already elite.

Recent discussion pieces in Germany and England have stressed that point. The short version is simple. If you keep creating 20-plus chances inside the first phase of the season, the assists and goals tend to follow. 

Grealish, Mbeumo, And Bruno In The Picture