Florian Wirtz back after injury for Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Florian Wirtz is slowly approaching his top form following a long spell on the side-lines injured.

The 19-year-old went down with a ruptured cruciate knee injury against Cologne on 13 March and has been side-lined ever since.

Wirtz is back training and has played in test matches after rehab and is hoping get in shape so he can get stuck into the second half of the Bundesliga campaign.

"The rehab was excellent, that gave me a good feeling and I sense the knee is very stable, which meant that I could fully challenge and show the others what I can do; there is no mental block," Wirtz said.

"My head is ready to go fully into challenges and do everything with both legs.

"It's new to have back the match atmosphere that you don't have in training. In the next test matches, that will build and develop more and more. Then I will be back to 100 percent who I was before," Wirtz told Bild.

"We've worked well and have been able to implement our plan. From next year, I can be fully counted on again," he added.

The youngster moved from the FC Köln youth side to Leverkusen's U-19 side in January 2020 before being promoted to the first team in July 2020 where he has been ever since.