Kai Havertz

1.1. Early Life and Family Background

Kai Lukas Havertz was born on 11 June 1999 in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He grew up in Mariadorf, a district of Alsdorf, before his family later moved to Aachen. His father, Ralf, works as a policeman, and his mother, Anne, is a lawyer. Havertz was exposed to football at an early age, starting to play at just four years old.

1.2. Youth Career Development

Havertz received his first footballing experience at the amateur club Alemannia Mariadorf, where his grandfather, Richard, served as the chairman. His talent quickly became apparent, and at the age of 10, in 2009, he was signed by 2. Bundesliga club Alemannia Aachen. He spent only one year in Aachen's academy before joining the renowned Bayer Leverkusen youth academy at the age of 11 in 2010.

In the following years at Leverkusen, he successfully overcame the challenges associated with growth spurts. In 2016, after an impressive season where he scored 18 goals for the club's U-17 team, he was awarded the silver U-17 Fritz Walter Medal, recognizing him as one of Germany's most promising young talents. His rapid development led to his promotion to Leverkusen's senior team the very next year.

2.1. Bayer Leverkusen

Havertz made his professional 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. At 17 years and 126 days old, he became the club's youngest-ever Bundesliga debutant, a record later broken by Florian Wirtz in 2020. On 17 February 2017, he provided an assist to teammate Karim Bellarabi for the 50,000th Bundesliga goal. Four days later, due to the suspension of teammate Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Havertz made his first UEFA Champions League start in the first leg of a round of 16 loss to Atlético Madrid. However, he was unavailable for the return leg in March as it coincided with his school examination period.

He scored his first goal for the club on 2 April 2017, netting a late equalizer in a 3-3 draw with VfL Wolfsburg. This made him Leverkusen's youngest-ever Bundesliga goalscorer, at the age of 17. In his debut season, he made 28 appearances across all competitions and scored four goals, including a brace against Hertha BSC on the final day, as Leverkusen finished 12th in the league.

On 14 April 2018, at 18 years and 307 days old, Havertz became the youngest player in Bundesliga history to reach 50 appearances, surpassing the record previously held by Timo Werner. He concluded his second full season with 30 league appearances and three goals, as Leverkusen finished fifth.

Havertz continued to impress in the 2018-19 season. By mid-season, he was the only player to have started every match for the club, scoring six goals. On 20 September 2018, he 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, aged 19 years, seven months and 16 days, he became Leverkusen's youngest-ever penalty scorer in a 3-0 league win over Wolfsburg. The following month, he became the second youngest player to achieve 75 Bundesliga appearances, behind Julian Draxler, when he scored in a 2-0 win over Fortuna Düsseldorf. On 13 April, he scored on his 100th appearance for Leverkusen in a 1-0 league win over VfB Stuttgart. This goal, his 13th of the campaign, also made him the youngest player since Stuttgart's Horst Köppel in the 1967-68 season to score 13 goals in a single league campaign. On 5 May, he scored his 15th goal of the campaign during a 6-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, a match that saw a record seven goals scored in the first half of a Bundesliga game. On the final day of the season, he became the highest-scoring teenager in a single Bundesliga campaign by netting his 17th goal in a 5-1 win over Hertha BSC. At the end of the season, he was the runner-up to Marco Reus for the German Footballer of the Year award, losing 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 after Köppel to score 25 Bundesliga goals. In December, at 20 years, six months and four days old, he surpassed another of Werner's records, becoming the youngest-ever player to reach 100 Bundesliga appearances in a 2-0 defeat to Köln. In the 2019-20 UEFA Europa League, Havertz scored in both matches against Porto in the round of 32, and then scored a goal in a 2-1 defeat to Inter Milan in the quarter-final. Overall, he registered 150 appearances and 46 goals during his four seasons with Bayer Leverkusen.

2.2. Chelsea

On 4 September 2020, Havertz signed a five-year contract with Premier League club Chelsea. The transfer fee was reported to be an initial 62.00 M GBP, potentially rising to 71.00 M GBP with add-ons, equivalent to 84.00 M EUR and approximately 112.00 B KRW, making him Chelsea's second-most expensive signing at the time, after Kepa Arrizabalaga.

He made his Chelsea debut on 14 September 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 goals for Chelsea in a 6-0 home win over Barnsley in the third round of the EFL Cup. He scored his first Premier League goal against Southampton on 17 October in a 3-3 home draw. On 4 November 2020, it was announced that Havertz had tested positive for COVID-19.

On 29 May 2021, Havertz scored the only goal of the 2021 UEFA Champions League final, his first goal in the competition, as Chelsea defeated fellow English club Manchester City to win the title for the second time in club history. This goal made him the youngest German to score in a Champions League final since 1997. Later that year, on 11 August, Chelsea won the UEFA Super Cup against Villarreal on penalties, despite Havertz missing his own 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 from a penalty kick in the FIFA Club World Cup Final, securing a 2-1 victory over Palmeiras and Chelsea's first Club World Cup title. Later 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 Chelsea for the knockout phase.

Across three seasons with Chelsea, Havertz made 139 appearances in all competitions, scoring 32 goals.

2.3. Arsenal

On 28 June 2023, Havertz joined fellow London club Arsenal for a reported fee of 65.00 M GBP, signing a long-term contract. 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 goal 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 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, the winning goal in a 1-0 win over Brentford. Four days later, Havertz netted his first Champions League goal for Arsenal 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 player to score in four consecutive Premier League games. 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 of 20 goal contributions in the Premier League (13 goals and seven assists).

On 5 October 2024, in Matchweek 7 of the 2024-25 season, Havertz equalled Robin van Persie's record of goals in seven consecutive appearances at the Emirates Stadium. He found the net against Southampton in that match, following goals against Paris Saint-Germain, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers, Brighton & Hove Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Everton (in 2023-24). On 12 February 2025, it was reported that Havertz would miss the rest of the 2024-25 season after tearing his hamstring while training with the team during a mid-season trip to Dubai.

3.1. Youth National Teams

Havertz made his debut for the Germany national under-16 team on 11 November 2014, starting in a friendly match against the Czech Republic that Germany won 3-1.

He was included in Germany's squad for the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Azerbaijan. He appeared in all five of Germany's matches, scoring once before Germany were eliminated by Spain in the semi-final.

After a 15-month absence from youth internationals, Havertz made his debut for Germany's under-19 team on 31 August 2017, in a 0-0 friendly draw against Switzerland. On 4 October 2017, in his third appearance for the under-19 team, Havertz scored four goals in a 5-1 win against Belarus in the first round of European Under-19 Championship qualifying. He was later named captain of the under-19 team. In a UEFA European U-19 Championship qualifier against the Netherlands, he scored a penalty, but Germany was eliminated based on the head-to-head rule despite a positive goal difference, having lost the first match 2-5.

3.2. Senior National Team

On 29 August 2018, Havertz received his first call-up to Germany's senior team by head coach Joachim Löw. He was included in the squad for Germany's UEFA Nations League match against France and a friendly against Peru. Havertz made his international debut on 9 September 2018, coming on as a substitute in the 88th minute for Timo Werner against Peru in a 2-1 home win for Germany. Upon making his debut, he became the first player born in 1999 to represent the national team. On 9 October 2019, he scored his first international goal in a friendly match against Argentina, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

On 19 May 2021, he was selected for the German squad for UEFA Euro 2020. On 19 June 2021, he scored Germany's third goal in the 51st minute in a 4-2 win over Portugal at the tournament. He scored another goal in the final group fixture, a 2-2 draw against Hungary, which saw his side qualify for the knockout phase. However, Germany was eliminated in the round of 16 after a 0-2 defeat to England.

In November 2022, he was selected in the final squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. On 1 December, he scored a brace in a 4-2 win over Costa Rica; however, Germany did not progress to the knockout round, finishing third in their group due to results in other matches.

Havertz was named in Germany's squad for UEFA Euro 2024. In the opening match of the tournament on 14 June, Havertz played the first 63 minutes, assisting the team's second goal and scoring the third from a penalty kick as Germany won 5-1 against Scotland in Munich. On 29 June, he scored a penalty in the round of 16 match against Denmark, contributing to a 2-0 victory. On 7 September 2024, he scored in a 5-0 victory against Hungary in the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League A. On 16 November 2024, he scored in a 7-0 victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the same competition.

7.1. Club Statistics

As of match played 5 February 2025

7.2. International Statistics

As of match played 19 November 2024

Germany score listed first, score column indicates score after each Havertz goal.