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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Mark Walker

Celtic on fresh alert as Bayer Leverkusen golden boy Florian Wirtz shatters Bundesliga record

Wonder boy Florian Wirtz created history ahead of Bayer Leverkusen's showdown with Celtic by smashing Lukas Podolski's record of being the youngest player to score ten goals in the Bundesliga.

And captain Lukas Hradecky has warned Celtic he can be a game changer as they prepare to travel to Glasgow for the Europa League clash.

The 18-year-old has already been tipped to be better than £75 million Chelsea star Kai Havertz by former Germany manager Rudi Voller, who is the club's sporting director.

Wirtz netted for the fourth game in a row as Leverkusen defeated Mainz at their Bay Arena and has now scored five goals in six appearances for his club this season. He also broke Podolski's record which had stood for 17 years.

And Finland international keeper and Bayer skipper Hradecky believes Wirtz is very special indeed as he gears up to take down Ange Postecoglou' s side.

He said: "Once again Florian was great and he will probably create a new record every other week.

"He really is outstanding.

"He is a young man capable of changing the game and he does that in almost every match."

And his manager Gerardo Seoane added to the hype being generated around the youngster.

He said: "The really impressive thing about him is that he's got a very clear head and makes the right decisions, is very determined and looks at the bigger picture.

"These are great qualities for any player, but it's incredible he has these when he is so young.

"What I think was outstanding about him is that, like the team, he was able to show an improvement in performance in the second half. "

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