Kai Havertz
Kai Lukas Havertz is a German professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Arsenal and the Germany national team.
Having graduated from Bayer Leverkusen's youth academy in 2016, Havertz made his senior debut with the club in the same year. Upon his debut, Havertz became the club's youngest-ever debutant in the Bundesliga, and he became their youngest-ever goalscorer when he scored his first goal the following year. Havertz holds the record for being the youngest player to reach 50 and 100 league appearances in the German top flight.
Havertz's performances sparked the interest of several European clubs, with Chelsea signing him in 2020 for a transfer worth €73.4 million, making him Chelsea's second-most expensive signing at the time. With Chelsea, Havertz won the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, 2021 UEFA Super Cup, and the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup, scoring the winning goals in the Champions League and Club World Cup finals. In June 2023, he joined fellow London side Arsenal for a reported fee of £65 million.
After appearing for Germany at various youth levels, Havertz made his senior international debut in September 2018, becoming the first player born in 1999 to represent the national team. He represented Germany at two editions of the UEFA European Championships, as well as the 2022 FIFA World Cup, scoring two goals in each tournament he has played in.
Early life
Kai Lukas Havertz was born on 11 June 1999 in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia. He grew up in Mariadorf, a district of Alsdorf. Later, the family moved to Aachen. His father Ralf is a policeman and his mother Anne is a lawyer.Club career
Youth career
Havertz received his first experience in football at the age of four when he joined amateur club Alemannia Mariadorf, where his grandfather, Richard, was chairman of the club. In 2009, he was signed by 2. Bundesliga club Alemannia Aachen where he spent only a year in the club's academy before joining Bayer Leverkusen at the age of 11. In the years that followed, he had to overcome the challenges associated with growth spurts and in 2016, after scoring 18 goals for the club's U-17 team, he was awarded the silver U-17 Fritz Walter Medal before breaking into Leverkusen's senior team the following year.Bayer Leverkusen
Havertz made his debut for Bayer Leverkusen on 15 October 2016, coming on as a second-half substitute for Charles Aránguiz in a 2–1 Bundesliga loss to Werder Bremen. Upon entering the field of play, he became the club's youngest-ever Bundesliga debutant, at the age of 17 years and 126 days, although his record was broken by Florian Wirtz in 2020. On 17 February 2017, he assisted teammate Karim Bellarabi to score the 50,000th Bundesliga goal. Four days later, following the suspension of teammate Hakan Çalhanoğlu, he was handed his first Champions League start in the first leg of a round of 16 loss to Atlético Madrid. He was ruled out of the return leg of the fixture in March, however, as the match clashed with the examinations period at his school. He scored his first goal for the club on 2 April, netting a late equaliser in a 3–3 draw with VfL Wolfsburg. Upon doing so, Havertz broke another club record to become Leverkusen's youngest-ever goalscorer in the Bundesliga, at the age of 17. He ultimately made 28 appearances across all competitions and scored four goals, including a brace against Hertha BSC on the final day of the season, as Leverkusen ended the campaign in 12th position.On 14 April 2018, Havertz became the youngest player in the history of the Bundesliga to reach 50 appearances at 18 years and 307 days old, breaking the record previously held by Timo Werner, who also later joined Havertz in the summer of 2020. He went on to end his second full campaign with the club with 30 league appearances and three goals to his name as Leverkusen ended the season in fifth place.
Havertz continued to impress during the following season, despite Leverkusen initially struggling in the league, and by the mid-way point of the campaign was the only player to have started every match for the club, scoring six goals along the way. On 20 September 2018, Havertz scored his first two goals in European competitions in a 3–2 win against Ludogorets Razgrad in the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League. On 26 January 2019, he became Leverkusen's youngest-ever penalty scorer when he scored from the spot in a 3–0 league win over Wolfsburg, aged 19 years, seven months and 16 days. The following month, he became the second youngest-ever player to achieve 75 Bundesliga appearances, behind Julian Draxler, when he started and scored in a 2–0 win over Fortuna Düsseldorf. On 13 April, he scored on his 100th appearance for Leverkusen to help the club to a 1–0 league win over VfB Stuttgart. The goal, his 13th for the campaign, also saw him become the youngest player since Stuttgart's own Horst Köppel in 1967–68 to score 13 goals in a single league season. On 5 May, he scored his 15th goal of the campaign during a 6–1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt; a match which for the first time ever saw seven goals scored in the first half of a Bundesliga match. On the final day of the season, he became the highest scoring teenager in a single Bundesliga campaign when he scored his 17th goal during a 5–1 win over Hertha BSC. At the end of the season, he was named runner-up to Marco Reus for the German Footballer of the Year award, losing out by just 37 votes.
On the opening day of the 2019–20 campaign, Havertz scored in Leverkusen's 3–2 win over Paderborn, becoming the second-youngest player of all time behind Köppel to score 25 Bundesliga goals. In December, at the age of 20 years, six months and four days, he broke another of Werner's records to become the youngest-ever player to reach 100 Bundesliga appearances when he started in his team's 2–0 defeat to Köln. In the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, Havertz scored in both matches against Porto in the round of 32, then he scored a goal in a 2–1 defeat to Inter Milan in the quarter-final.
Chelsea
On 4 September 2020, Havertz signed a five-year contract with Premier League club Chelsea. The transfer fee was reported to be worth an initial £62 million, which could rise to £71 million with add-ons, making him Chelsea's second-most expensive signing after Kepa Arrizabalaga. On 14 September, he made his Chelsea debut in the league opener against Brighton & Hove Albion, which ended in a 3–1 away win. On 23 September, Havertz scored his first career hat-trick and his first Chelsea goals in a 6–0 home win over Barnsley in the third round of the EFL Cup. Havertz scored his first-ever Premier League goal against Southampton on 17 October, in a 3–3 draw at home. On 4 November 2020, it was revealed that Havertz had tested positive for COVID-19.On 29 May 2021, he scored the only goal of the game in the 2021 UEFA Champions League final. It was his first-ever goal in the competition as Chelsea beat fellow English club Manchester City to win the title for the second time in club history. Later that year, on 11 August, Havertz won the UEFA Super Cup with Chelsea, beating Villarreal in the final on penalties, despite him missing his penalty. On 28 August, he scored his first goal of the 2021–22 season in a 1–1 draw at Liverpool.
On 12 February 2022, Havertz scored the winning goal in the 117th minute of the FIFA Club World Cup Final from a penalty kick, which ended in a 2–1 victory over Palmeiras. Afterwards that year, on 3 September, he scored the winner in a 2–1 home victory against West Ham United for his first goal of the 2022–23 season. On 25 October, he scored the winner in a 2–1 away victory against Red Bull Salzburg, which qualified his club for the knockout phase.
On 7th March 2023, he scored the winning goal against Borussia Dortmund to help Chelsea reach the quarter-finals of the 2022–23 Uefa Champions League.
Arsenal
On 28 June 2023, Havertz joined fellow London club Arsenal for a reported fee of £65 million. He made his debut on 13 July in a 1–1 pre-season draw with 1. FC Nürnberg. Six days later, Havertz scored Arsenal's fifth in a 5–0 victory in the 2023 MLS All-Star Game. On 6 August, he made his competitive debut for the club against Manchester City in the 2023 Community Shield, which Arsenal won 4–1 on penalties. On 30 September, Havertz scored his first goal for Arsenal, a penalty in a 4–0 victory over Bournemouth. On 25 November, he scored his first open-play goal for the club by scoring the winning goal in a 1–0 win over Brentford. Four days later, Havertz netted his first Champions League goal for the club in a 6–0 rout of Lens.On 24 February 2024, Havertz contributed his first double goal contribution for the club by scoring and assisting in a 4–1 victory over Newcastle United. On 9 March, he netted the winning goal in a 2–1 win over Brentford, becoming the first German to score in four consecutive games in Premier League history. On the final matchday of the 2023–24 season, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Everton, as his club finished second in the league. He concluded his first season at Arsenal under coach Mikel Arteta with a personal best in the Premier League of 20 goal contributions, tallying 13 goals and seven assists.
On 17 August 2024, Havertz scored Arsenal's first goal of the 2024–25 season against Wolves. On 5 October, he equaled Robin van Persie's record of goals in 7 consecutive appearances at the Emirates Stadium. He found the net against Southampton, which followed goals against Paris Saint-Germain, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers, Brighton & Hove Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Everton. On 12 February 2025, The Athletic reported that Havertz would miss the rest of the 2024–25 season after tearing his hamstring while training with the team during a midseason trip in Dubai. Later that year, he appeared in the opening match of the 2025–26 season against Manchester United, but suffered a knee injury a few days later that would sideline him for several months.