For a lot of clubs based in the same city, such as Liverpool and Everton or the two Manchester teams, the idea of transferring players from one side to another seems odd. Even Newcastle United and Sunderland, which are simply close geographically, wouldn’t even countenance it. The same sort of thing doesn’t seem to stop Chelsea and Arsenal from sending players from one part of London to the other, however. So it is that Kai Havertz became the Stamford Bridge club’s second-most expensive player in 2020 but moved to the Gunners just three years later after winning the Champions League with Chelsea.
Who is Kai Havertz?
Kai Lukas Havertz was born in the German city of Aachen on the 11th of June 1999. He grew up in the Alsdorf district of Mariadorf, with his family later moving to Aachen on a permanent basis. There is little footballing ability in his immediate family, insomuch as his father, Ralf, was a police officer and his mother, Anne, was a lawyer. In his personal life, the player entered into a relationship with the model and social media influencer Sophia Weber, who is also German, in 2018. The pair got engaged in the July of 2023 and then married the following July in the same week that he became Arsenal’s highest-paid player.
Getting into Football
The first time that Kai Havertz experienced football at any meaningful level was when he joined the youth ranks of the amateur club Alemannia Mariadorf. The main reason that he went there was that his grandfather, Richard Havertz, was the club’s Chairman. In 2009 the ten-year-old Havertz was signed by the 2. Bundesliga club Alemannia Aachen, but he spent just a year in the club’s Academy before being scouted by Bayer Leverkusen. Over the years that followed he endured numerous challenges, including having to cope with growth spurts, but in 2016 he scored 18 goals for the Under-17s, earning the Fritz Walter Medal.
Such was his impact at the youth level that it was felt that he had to be given a chance in the senior team. He made his debut for the club on the 15th of October, replacing Charles Aránguiz as a second-half substitute in a 2-1 defeat to Werder Bremen. Aged just 17 years and 126 days, he became Leverkusen’s youngster ever debutant in the Bundesliga. In the February of the following year he got his first assist for the club, setting up Karim Bellarabi for the 50,000th goal in the German top-flight. He made his first Champions League start in a last-16 loss to Atlético Madrid, but couldn’t play in the second-leg as he had exams at school.
Earning Chelsea’s Admiration
In the years that followed, Havertz continued to impress for Leverkusen in spite of his young age. His first goal came on the second of April 2017, scoring a late equaliser in a 3-3 draw with VfL Wolfsburg, become the club’s youngest-ever Bundesliga goalscorer. Within a year he had become the youngest player to make 50 appearances in the division, aged 18 years and 307 days. Although Leverkusen struggled in the league in the following campaign, his reputation continued to grow. He became the club’s youngest penalty-scorer in January 2019, then in February he was the second-youngest to reach 75 top-flight appearances.
When he scored on the opening day of the 2019-2020 season, he became the second-youngest player in the history of the Bundesliga to score 25 goals in the competition, with only Horst Köppel ahead of him. When he started in Leverkusen’s 2-0 loss to Köln in the December, he became the youngster-ever player to make 100 appearances in the German league, also making an impression in the Europa League thanks to goals against both Porto in the round of 32 and Inter Milan in the quarter-final. Unsurprisingly, he had begun to earn the admiration of some of Europe’s biggest clubs, with the Premier League side Chelsea keeping tabs on him ahead of a possible transfer, keen to boost their goal-scoring ability.
Signing for the Blues
On the fourth of September 2020, Chelsea confirmed that the German player had signed a five-year contract to head to Stamford Bridge. The fee was reported to be worth an initial outlay of £62 million, rising to £71 million with add-ons. That made him the second-most expensive signing in the club’s history behind Kepa Arrizabalaga, the goalkeeper who had been signed two years earlier. His Chelsea debut came in the league opener against Brighton & Hove Albion on the 14th of September, which finished 3-1 to the Blues. Nine days later and he scored his first Chelsea goal and his first career hat-trick in a 6-0 win over Barnsley in the League Cup.
His first Premier League goal for the Blues came against Southampton on the 17th of October in a game that finished 3-3 at Stamford Bridge. It is fair to say that better was to come for the German, with Chelsea making it to the final of the Champions League at the end of the campaign. They played Manchester City, with Havertz scoring the only goal of the game as the Blues defeated the English champions in Chelsea’s second win in the competition.
On the 11th of August he continued his run of winning important games with Chelsea, taking home the UEFA Super Cup after they won against Villarreal, even though he missed his penalty in the shoot-out.
Leaving Stamford Bridge
Havertz’s first goal of the 2021-2022 season came in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool on the 28th of August, then in the February of the following year he scored the winning goal in the 117th minute of the FIFA Club World Cup, netting a spot-kick against Palmeiras as the Blues became the champions of the world. On the third of September he scored his first goal of the 2022-2023 season when he found the back of the net in a 2-1 win over West Ham United, also scoring the winner in a 2-1 win over Red Bull Salzburg on the 25th of October. In spite of this, it wasn’t enough to convince Chelsea that he deserved to remain at the club.
We keep moving forward.
Kai Havertz is a Gunner ❤️ pic.twitter.com/76j5BStw9e
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) June 28, 2023
On the 28th of June 2023 Havertz made the move from West London to North London, signing for Arsenal in a move reportedly worth £65 million. His debut came in a 1-1 draw in pre-season with 1. FC Nürnberg. His competitive debut for the Gunners came in the Community Shield against Manchester City, which Arsenal won 4-1 on penalties. His first goal for his new club came on the 30th of September when he scored from the penalty spot in a 4-0 win against Bournemouth, netting his first open-play goal in a 1-0 win over Brentford. When he scored on the fifth of October 2024, he equalled Robin van Persie’s record of scoring in seven consecutive home gamers for Arsenal.
Style of Play
Considered to be a technically gifted attacking midfielder, Havertz is comfortable using either feet. His finesse and technique resulted in Paul Merson calling him a ‘Rolls-Royce of a footballer’, declaring him to be ‘one of Chelsea’s best players’. During his early years his style of play drew comparisons with fellow German international Mesut Özil, with the player himself confessing that he was a player that he looked up to. When he began to appear more regularly for Leverkusen he also drew comparisons with other former players for the side such as Michael Ballack and Toni Kroos. He was thought of as an ‘Alleskönner’, or a player who can do everything.
The fact that he has the ability to find space in congested areas and making the correct runs in a game meant that some considered him akin to Thomas Müller, with many feeling that Havertz is actually more elegant and boasts greater skill levels. The ‘false nine’ role is one that suits his style of play, which is largely where he played whilst at Chelsea. During the 2021-2022 season, the player had no specific role in the side and was played across numerous different positions, which is when it was felt that playing as a forward or ‘false nine’ was the best place for him to play.