Kai Havertz

Kai Havertz
Kai Havertz (2019)
Personnel
Surname	Kai Lukas Havertz
birthday	June 11, 1999
place of birth	Aachen ,  Germany
size	189 cm
position	Attacking Midfield Second Striker Wing Storm (right)
Juniors
Years	station
2003-2009	Alemannia Mariadorf
2009-2010	Alemannia Aachen
2010-2017	Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
2016-2020	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	118 (36)
2020–	Chelsea FC	26 0(4)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals) 2
2014-2015	Germany U16	6 0(0)
2015-2016	Germany U17	16 0(2)
2017-2018	Germany U19	8 0(7)
2018–	Germany	13 0(3)
1 Only league games are given. Status: May 12, 2021 2 As of March 31, 2021

Kai Lukas Havertz (born June 11, 1999 in Aachen ) is a German soccer player . He began his career in the youth teams of two clubs from the district or the city ​​region of Aachen , joined the youth team of Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 2010 and received his first professional contract with them in 2017. He had already been in the first team's squad from 2016 at the age of 17. He is the youngest player to date to have played in the Bundesliga at least 100 times. It is seen offensively as being variable; He is mainly used in the attacking midfield, also plays as a " wrong 9 " or on the right flank.

Since September 2020 he has been under contract with the English first division club FC Chelsea . In September 2018 he made his debut in the German national team , after having been active in the association's youth selections since 2014 .

Club career

youth

Havertz began his career in 2003 in the youth of Alemannia Mariadorf . At that time, the club represented the philosophy of only accepting youth players after they reached the age of six. Since Havertz was only four years old at the time, a family neighbor who had become aware of Havertz's abilities asked several times for admission to the youth department of Alemannia. Ultimately, the club followed suit in the person of coach Dirk Morfeld. That Morfeld said later about his former player that he could "decide games with his mind". Havertz played in the first year with teammates born in 1997 and was able to maintain the higher sporting level for his circumstances. In the following years he also played in teams of older age groups. In 2009 he moved to Alemannia Aachen and stayed there for a year. In the run-up to the tournament, the boy and his team celebrated various victories against youth teams from Bundesliga clubs.

He then joined the youth team at Bayer 04 Leverkusen . In addition to Martin Plum, who saw young players in the Aachen area as a scout, the future Leverkusen youth e-trainer Burak Yıldırım was responsible for this change. Plum advised his colleague to see a player in Mariadorf who would be suitable for inclusion. However, since he was only eight years old, the parents only agreed about three years later. Yıldırım had the young player brought to Leverkusen by means of a car service more often parallel to his engagement in Mariadorf in order to enable a gradual pre-integration. The later team doctor organized a private tour of the BayArena for Havertz and his parents, presented Havertz and his parents with a flocked jersey with the number 10 in the conference room and announced him as a new addition via a microphone; so the ten year old could finally be emotionally attached to the club. In the 2015/16 season of the B-Junioren-Bundesliga , Havertz won the championship with his team and was involved in 20 goals in 29 games (19 goals, one assist), including the opening goal in the 2-0 win in the final against Borussia Dortmund .

First year as a professional

On August 12, 2016, Havertz received a long-term contract in Leverkusen. Before that, he had already taken part in the summer break training camp for the first team in Zell am See and Kaprun , Austria . On September 10, 2016 - 2nd matchday of the 2016/17 Bundesliga season - Havertz was part of the professional team for the first time, but was not used. On October 15 (7th matchday) he finally made his debut in the Bundesliga when he came on for Charles Aránguiz in the 83rd minute in the 2-1 away defeat at Werder Bremen . At the age of 17 years and 126 days on this match day, the offensive player became the club's youngest player in the Bundesliga until then; In terms of league history, he was the seventh youngest player in this category at that time. Havertz was later called into the squad because of an injury to Lars Bender during this away game and was driven to Bremen on the morning of the match day . During the first half of the season he made nine more appearances in the Bundesliga; on November 5th (10th matchday) against SV Darmstadt 98 he was in the starting line-up in a professional game for the first time. He had made his debut in the Champions League against Tottenham Hotspur three days earlier at Wembley Stadium when he was substituted on for Aránguiz shortly before the end of the game.

Even at the beginning of the second half of the season - and although he was still used in the club's youth - Havertz was regularly in the professional squad. On February 17, 2017, he prepared the 50,000 achieved by Karim Bellarabi . Goal of the Bundesliga. Havertz scored his first goal in professional football on April 2, 2017, making it 3: 3 in the game against VfL Wolfsburg . With this goal he replaced Julian Brandt as the youngest goal scorer in the club's history. In the 17th calendar week of 2017, he did not take part in the club's training and match operations due to high school exams. He also passed an exam the following week. This time he traveled with the team to the Bundesliga match at FC Ingolstadt 04 , in which he scored the 1-1 final score with a header. On May 20 (34th matchday) he contributed two goals in the 6-2 away win over Hertha BSC . This made him the second youngest player in the Bundesliga, behind Timo Werner, to score twice in one game.

The club members then elected Havertz internally as Player of the Season. The player, who went to school parallel to his commitment to Bayer 04, passed his Abitur exams shortly afterwards ( advanced courses in sports, German and a third subject in geography). The association has also given him tutoring for the oral exam in mathematics, which he also passed. It passed with an average grade of 3.3.

Establishment in Leverkusen

Havertz at the Bayer 04 season opening 2018

At the start of training in the 2017/18 season on July 3, 2017, Havertz signed his first professional contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen and joined the club until the end of June 2022. Havertz also kept his regular place under the new coach Heiko Herrlich . During the season in which Leverkusen competed in the league and in the DFB Cup , Havertz was not used in only four of 39 competitive games. Overall, he played thirteen times (four goals, nine assists) in the goals of his team, mainly acting in the attacking midfield. On October 21, 2017, he prepared three goals for his team in 13 minutes in the away game at Borussia Mönchengladbach, paving the way for the Leverkusen team to win 5-1.

With his goal on the last match day of the 2018/19 season , Havertz became the first U20 player in Bundesliga history to score 17 goals in one season.

At the end of November 2019, Havertz was voted 3rd in the Golden Boy election for the best U21 player in Europe in 2019, behind João Félix and Jadon Sancho . At the 0: 2 in Cologne , the offensive player completed his 100th Bundesliga game at the age of 20. However, this was also preceded by his first major crisis as a professional: Bayer 04 first missed making it to the top positions in the first half of the season and later even made it to the European Cup. Havertz, who has long been referred to in the media as “one of Germany's greatest talents”, heard for the first time noticeable whistles from his own audience at the home game against Hertha BSC on matchday 16. The player, who to date only scored twice for the team that had lost three games in a row within a week, was identified due to his status as an accomplice for the current team performance. In the course of this, the young Aachener received public support from teammates such as team captain Lars Bender (“He must have the feeling that he is still a young talent, that he is allowed to have games that are not so great, that he can also have moments , in which he doesn't shine. ") or Jonathan Tah (" That doesn't work. And it won't make him more motivated either. The boy is 20 years old. That's not nice for him. ") as well as from Coach Bosz ("I don't understand why people whistled at him. We're always talking about the Bayer 04 family here, that includes the fans, players, employees - all together. Even if it came from just a few people - me would never abuse my family like that ”).

Havertz went ahead and in addition to his performances, which were reflected in 15 scorer points in the second half of the season, those of his teammates also improved. The offensive player was active on the right wing, behind the storm center and as the only attacker and also represented Lars Bender several times as captain. At the end of the season it was enough for Bayer and his player for the Europa League, although the opportunity to qualify for the Champions League had been retained until the last day of the match.

Transfer to Chelsea

For the 2020/21 season Havertz moved to the Premier League for Chelsea . He signed a contract until June 30, 2025 and was the second German after Timo Werner to be signed by the London club at the beginning of this season. In matching media reports, including in the trade press, the transfer fee is given as around 80 million euros plus a further increase to up to 100 million euros through bonus payments. This makes the 21-year-old the most expensive German player to date and, behind Ousmane Dembélé (2017 for 105 million euros from Borussia Dortmund to FC Barcelona ), the second most expensive exit in the German Bundesliga. Havertz is also one of the most expensive players in football history worldwide .

Oliver Bierhoff , director of the German senior national team, described the transfer as an “award and recognition for German football”, whereas the player himself said goodbye with the words: “I'm sorry that I felt like this after so many years I have to say goodbye to Bayer 04 forever. We'll meet Again."

Just like his teammate Timo Werner, Havertz had to get used to the level in the highest English league as well as to the traditionally tighter schedule on the island. In the first half of the season, the German scored nine direct goals and scored three times in the 6-0 win against Barnsley in the League Cup . Due to a COVID-19 infection and an injury, the offensive player missed several games and was only a substitute player in places after the coach change from Frank Lampard to Thomas Tuchel . Havertz scored both goals in the 2-0 win against Fulham on Matchday 34, which should pay off at the end of the season after only three points from the last three games. With one point ahead of their direct competitor Leicester City , the Blues managed to qualify for the premier class again . After a defeat against Leicester in the FA Cup final , the German was next to Mason Mount and behind center forward Werner in the starting line-up of Chelsea in the Champions League final against Manchester City . Havertz scored the decisive 1-0 just before half-time, which he managed to manage with the Londoners until the end.

National team

U selections

Havertz has been playing for the DFB national team since the U16 and made his debut for them on November 11, 2014 against the Czech Republic.

At the U17 European Championship in Azerbaijan , Havertz reached the semi-finals with the U17 , in which the Germans failed against Spain. He completed all five games from the start and was only substituted in the third group game; he also scored one goal and prepared another. Finally he was appointed to the team of the tournament .

After he had not played another international match for over 15 months from May 2016, Havertz was appointed to the U19 at the end of August 2017 . For this he made his debut on August 31st with a 0-0 draw against the Swiss U19s with a substitution. In his third game for the selection against the Belarusian U19 on October 4th of that year Havertz scored four goals in a 5-1 win.

A selection

On August 29, 2018, national coach Joachim Löw nominated him for the first time in the A-selection for a game against France in the UEFA Nations League and for the following friendly against Peru . On September 9, he made his debut for the selection when he came on in the 88th minute for Timo Werner in the 2-1 win over Peru.

Style of play

In Leverkusen Havertz mostly acted as an attacking middle player, but could occasionally play as a striker or right winger. The offensive player, dubbed an "all-rounder", is strong at dribbling, has good ball control and a high accuracy of passing. He is quick to grasp when it comes to analyzing the occupied opposing space and likes to guide the ball at a generous distance at his foot.

Soccer world champion Günter Netzer - who was also active as a creative, attacking midfielder in the 1960s and 1970s - attested that he had “game intelligence” and the potential to grow into a “playmaker”. While the trade press praised his “overview, speed” and “ingenuity”, his youth coach Dirk Morfeld stated that Havertz was not a match for FC Bayern Munich because he needed “calm and trust”. The Leverkusen sporting director, Rudi Völler , compared his former player with Mesut Özil in terms of “running style and elegance”, in terms of “robustness and goal threat”, on the other hand with the young Michael Ballack , who from 1999 to 2002 and from 2010 to 2012 himself was active in Leverkusen. The young player himself described Özil and Toni Kroos , with whom he had already played in the national team, as "perhaps the best footballers Germany has ever had". İlkay Gündoğan, on the other hand, appreciates Havertz, who he considers to be “even better than Ballack” in terms of his “playful skills”, for his “fairness and modern style of play”.

Personal

Havertz, whose favorite clubs during his childhood were Alemannia Aachen and FC Barcelona , was born in Aachen in June 1999 as the son of a lawyer and a police officer and grew up in the Alsdorf district of Mariadorf ; later the family moved to Aachen. He has two older siblings, a sister and a brother. After primary school, he first attended the Heilig-Geist-Gymnasium in Würselen . After moving to Bayer 04, he commuted several times a week after school to the club's own youth training center. After he was promoted to Bayer 04 Leverkusen's B youth team, he moved to Leverkusen into the household of the stadium announcer at the time, Klaus Schenkmann, and then moved into an apartment in Manfort on his own . 2017 he put the Abitur on the elite school of sport and of football excellent Landrat-Lucas Secondary School in Leverkusen district Opladen from.

His maternal grandfather, Richard Weidenhaupt-Pelzer, played soccer himself. He was a contract player for the first division club Rhenania Würselen , who played in the top West German division from 1948 to 1950. In the 1948/49 season he was in the squad together with the later national coach Jupp Derwall . Weidenhaupt-Pelzer did not get to work in the major league. He was also chairman of Alemannia Mariadorf and until 1971 the last mayor of the municipality of Hoengen , which today belongs to Alsdorf.

In August 2016, the German Football Association honored Havertz's achievements in the club's youth and in the U-national teams with the Fritz-Walter-Medal in silver in the category U17-Juniors . In June 2017, Havertz signed the city of Alsdorf's Golden Book . In 2018 he was awarded the Fritz Walter Gold Medal in the U19 Juniors category by the DFB .

Achievements and Awards

society

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

• German B-Junior Champion : 2015/16
• DFB Cup finalist : 2019/20

Chelsea FC

• UEFA Champions League : 2020/21

Personally

Awards

• Election to the team of the tournament of the U17 European Championship 2016
• Fritz Walter Medal in silver in the U17 juniors category : 2016
• Classification in the wider circle of the ranking of German football of the kicker sports magazine on the position midfield offensive : summer 2017 , winter 2017/18 , summer 2018
• Classification in the international class of the ranking list of German football of the kicker sports magazine on the position midfield offensive : winter 2018/19 , summer 2019 , summer 2020
• Fritz Walter Gold Medal in the U19 Juniors category : 2018
• Member of VDV 11 : 2018/19 , 2019/20
• Player of the month in the German Bundesliga: April 2019, May 2019 and May 2020

Records

• Youngest player with 50 Bundesliga appearances at the age of 18 and 307 days in April 2018

Web links

Commons : Kai Havertz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Kai Havertz in the database of the German Football Association
• Player portrait on the Chelsea FC website
• Player portrait on the Bayer 04 Leverkusen website from 2020

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} A boy from Mariador receives the Fritz Walter Medal from the DFB ; alemannia-mariadorf.de, accessed on October 17, 2016
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} The new superstars: A portrait of Kai Havertz - model students on the square , spox.com, accessed on September 5, 2020
3. ↑ KAI - THE HAVERTZ STORY | 10 years Bayer 04 Leverkusen ; youtube.com, video file, length 50:52 minutes, published and accessed on August 1, 2020
4. ↑ ^{a b} Long-term contract for Kai Havertz ; bayer04.de, August 12, 2016, accessed on August 16, 2017
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} That ^is why Havertz came to Bayer Leverkusen at the age of ten , kicker.de, accessed on September 5, 2020
6. ^ Proof of performance from Kai Havertz in the 2015/16 season ; transfermarkt.de, accessed on August 12, 2016
7. ↑ Match report Borussia Dortmund U17 against Bayer 04 Leverkusen U17 from June 19, 2016 ; transfermarkt.de, accessed on August 12, 2016
8. ↑ ^{a b} Ata, Sam and Kai - Three boys for the future ; bayer04.de, August 1, 2016, accessed on August 16, 2017
9. ^ Match report between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Werder Bremen on September 10, 2016 ; kicker.de, accessed on October 15, 2016
10. ^ Match report Werder Bremen against Bayer 04 Leverkusen from October 15, 2016 ; kicker.de, accessed on October 15, 2016
11. ↑ Havertz youngest starter in Bayer 04 history ; bayer04.de, November 6, 2016, accessed on August 16, 2017
12. ↑ Youngest Bundesliga debutants: Havertz Seventh ; kicker.de, picture gallery, see signatures for pictures one and eight, accessed on October 17, 2016
13. ↑ ^{a b} From Yurchenko double to double packer ; facebook.com, published and accessed July 3, 2017
14. ↑ Match report Bayer 04 Leverkusen against SV Darmstadt 98 from November 5, 2016 ; kicker.de, accessed on February 21, 2017
15. ^ Match report Tottenham Hotspur against Bayer 04 Leverkusen on November 2, 2016 ; kicker.de, accessed on February 21, 2017
16. ^ Match report FC Augsburg against Bayer 04 Leverkusen on February 17, 2017 ; kicker.de, accessed on February 21, 2017
17. ↑ Gomez crashes Korkut's birthday party , match report on kicker.de, accessed on April 3, 2017.
18. ↑ Youngest Bayer goalscorer: Havertz makes history ; bundesliga.de, accessed on April 3, 2017.
19. ↑ Abitur exams: Havertz is absent against Schalke ; kicker.de, April 26, 2017, accessed on May 12, 2017
20. ↑ Havertz delivers in double stress ; kicker.de, May 7, 2017, accessed on May 12, 2017
21. ↑ Match report Hertha BSC against Bayer 04 Leverkusen on May 20, 2017 ; kicker.de, accessed on May 22, 2017
22. ↑ Havertz: "I couldn't have dreamed it would" ; kicker.de, May 21, 2017, accessed on May 22, 2017
23. ↑ Kai Havertz elected player of the season 2016/17 ; bayer04.de, August 4, 2017, accessed on August 16, 2017
24. ↑ Five years! - Bayer 04 builds on top talent Kai Havertz ; bayer04.de, July 3, 2017, accessed on August 16, 2017
25. ^ Proof of performance from Kai Havertz in the 2017/18 season ; transfermarkt.de, accessed on February 11, 2019
26. ↑ Match report Borussia Mönchengladbach against Bayer 04 Leverkusen from October 21, 2017 ; kicker.de, accessed on February 11, 2019
27. ↑ Records, anniversaries, curiosities: The 34th matchday in numbers. In: bundesliga.de. May 19, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2019 . 
28. ↑ Sancho only second: Joao Felix is ​​Golden Boy 2019 , kicker.de, November 27, 2019, accessed on November 27, 2019.
29. ↑ American Football to Volleyball: The Greatest German Talents in Sports , ran.de, accessed on September 25, 2020
30. ↑ Werder has accessed the next top talent in the Bundesliga , t-online.de, on September 25, 2020
31. ↑ U20 talents: Top 50 with Jadon Sancho, Kai Havertz, Vinicius , sport1.de, accessed on September 25, 2020
32. ↑ Kai Havertz - The greatest talent since Toni Kroos? , fussballcheck.com, accessed on September 25, 2020
33. ↑ ^{a b c} All eyes on "exceptional talent" Kai Havertz: Bayern in front of your chest, Real Madrid in your head? , goal.com, accessed September 25, 2020
34. ↑ Bender on Havertz: We have to take the pressure off him a little , augsburger-allgemeine.de, accessed on September 25, 2020
35. ↑ Chelsea have Havertz! , chelseafc.com, September 4, 2020, accessed September 4, 2020.
36. ↑ Perfect: Kai Havertz changes to FC Chelsea , kicker.de, September 4, 2020, accessed on September 4, 2020.
37. ↑ Kai Havertz changes to FC Chelsea , n-tv.de, September 4, 2020, accessed on September 4, 2020.
38. ↑ Kai Havertz changes to FC Chelsea , spiegel.de, September 4, 2020, accessed on September 4, 2020.
39. ↑ Kai Havertz: Chelsea target leaves Germany squad to finalize future , bbc.com, September 4, 2020, accessed on September 4, 2020.
40. ↑ "Kia" and "Kai who?": England puzzles over Havertz , weltfussball.de, accessed on September 5, 2020
41. ↑ Match report Czech Republic U16 against Germany U16 ; transfermarkt.de, accessed on August 12, 2016
42. ↑ Proof of performance from Kai Havertz at the U17 European Championship 2016 ; transfermarkt.de, accessed on August 12, 2016
43. ↑ Match report Switzerland U19 against Germany U19 from August 31, 2017 ; dfb.de, accessed on October 4, 2017
44. ↑ Match report Germany U19 against Belarus U19 from October 4, 2017 ; dfb.de, accessed on October 4, 2017
45. ^ Nations League: Three New, Three Returnees ; dfb.de, published and accessed on August 29, 2018
46. ↑ Match report Germany against Peru from September 9, 2018 ; dfb.de, accessed on September 10, 2018
47. ↑ No place at FCB? Coutinho & James as warning examples for Havertz , sport.sky.de, accessed on September 5, 2020
48. ↑ ^{a b} Large analysis: Kai Havertz - Is the hype about the youngster fair? , tribuna.com, accessed September 5, 2020
49. ↑ Günter Netzer: "Kai Havertz is a very intelligent player" , mopo.de, accessed on September 5, 2020
50. ↑ Kai Havertz: Will this 19-year-old be the next world star? , augsburger-allgemeine.de, accessed on September 5, 2020
51. ↑ Havertz ennobles Kroos and Özil: "Perhaps the best footballer Germany has ever had" , sportbuzzer.de, accessed on September 5, 2020
52. ↑ No “bastard”: Gündogan does not see Havertz as the “new Ballack” , fussball.news, accessed on September 5, 2020
53. ↑ BAYER 04 MEET ALEMANNIA AACHEN IN THE DFB CUP. June 15, 2019, accessed August 6, 2019 . 
54. ↑ Kai Havertz comes out as a fan of FC Barcelona: "My room was full of Barca posters". In: Goal. Perform Media Deutschland GmbH, August 21, 2018, accessed on August 6, 2019 . 
55. ↑ The new superstars: Kai Havertz in portrait - model students on the square ; sportbuzzer.de, published and accessed on April 11, 2020
56. ↑ UEFA.com's weekly wonderkid: Kai Havertz ; uefa.com, February 4, 2017, accessed February 14, 2017
57. ↑ ^{a b c} Bayer Leverkusen's youngest professional enters the Golden Book ; aachener-zeitung.de, June 29, 2017, accessed on November 7, 2018
58. ^ Fritz Walter Medal for Kai Havertz ; landrat-lucas.org, accessed on May 9, 2017
59. ^ Kai Havertz - Between high school and Wembley ; ksta.de, January 13, 2017, accessed February 14, 2017
60. ↑ Robert Pelzer is far from thinking of quitting ; aachener-zeitung.de, October 30, 2016, accessed on January 25, 2017
61. ^ Fritz Walter Medal for Ehegötz, Henrichs and Itter ; dfb.de, August 8, 2016, accessed on August 12, 2016
62. ^ Fritz Walter Gold Medal to Havertz, Katterbach and Pawollek ; dfb.de, published and accessed on July 24, 2018