Bengaluru, April 8: It is strongly rumoured that Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Kai Havertz may make his debut in the coming season of the Premier League. Plenty of talks are doing rounds that Arsenal seem to be the one who might make that debut happen.
It was a dream come true for him when he joined the Bundesliga side Leverkusen at the age of 11. Havertz made his professional debut on Oct 2016 as a second-half substitute against Werder Bremen, the moment he stepped onto the pitch he earned his first record as the youngest debutant of Leverkusen side at the age of 17 years and 126 days.
TALENT OF THE DAY
— FootballTalentScout (@FTalentScout) April 3, 2018
Kai Havertz
Age: 18
Country: 🇩🇪
Club: Bayer Leverkusen
Position: MC/AM/RW
Player role: complete midfielder
Strengths: passing, technique, vision, dribbling, athleticism, intelligence
Market value: 18M€
Similar type of player: Mesut Özil
Potential: 10/10 pic.twitter.com/8SXpUWadJZ
His first goal, which was a crucial equalizer in a 3-3 draw against VfL Wolfsburg, also made him Bayer Leverkusen’s youngest goal-scorer. In the same season, he scored four goals, two of which came from a brace, and provided six assists. He appeared in the UEFA Champions League on three occasions but famously missed the Round-of-16 second leg against Atletico Madrid last year due to his school exams. All this has only resulted in more attention from Premier League sides like Liverpool, Arsenal and Southampton.
Liverpool are said to have scouted him back in Oct 2017 when he played for the Germany U-19 team and became involved in all the five goals (four goals and an assist) against the Belarus U-19 team.
Arsenal set to beat Liverpool to the signing of 18 year old Kai Havertz.
— LTArsenal™ (@ltarsenal) April 4, 2018
He idolises Mesut Ozil:
"I look up to Mesut Özil. He plays football the way I like it. He’s always calm with the ball, never stressed. I love watching his games.” pic.twitter.com/w3FujBzOOu
In this season, it could be said that the 18-year-old has been in excellent form with three goals and seven assists. And unlike many teenagers, he has featured regularly in the Playing XI for Bayer. This season, he has had 24 appearances, 15 of which were starts.
Arsenal too have scouted Kai Havertz after Germany U-19’s 2-5 defeat to Norway in the U-19 European Championship Qualifiers. The interest from Arsenal is a calculated move by the new head of recruitment Sven Mislintat, who was brought in from Borussia Dortmund to overhaul Arsenal’s recruiting system.
Kai Havertz says, "Life's all about the goals." pic.twitter.com/kORe8g06Jy
— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) April 6, 2018
It is also understood that Arsenal maybe looking at Havertz as a long-term successor to Mesut Ozil. The attacking midfielder certainly has similarities to Ozil and has created 22 goal-scoring chances this season at Leverkusen.