Just like Kai Havertz, there are different dynamisms about footballers; some were given the complete support to have a career right from infancy, some were not.
While some wanted to support their offspring in having a career in football but life never allowed them. Which in return makes the child be determined and resilient on the way to become a known name in Football.
Kai Havertz came from a family where everyone was crazy about football. Maybe it was the right thing to do anyway; the Europeans values the round leather game more than any other continent in the world.
So, he obviously falls in the category of football players who had the backing of their parents and relatives in every sphere.
Kai Havertz: The Story
The story of Havertz began in the village of Mariadorf, just North of the Aachen region of the German nation. That’s where the youngster took the step into football and thankfully, there was nothing to discourage him right from the moment he chose to continue from where his grandfather stopped – Albeit not as a Footballer, but as an administrator.
Havertz revealed recently in an interview with bundesliga.com
“My grandpa really got me into football, he helped me take my first steps. Obviously, my brother and father also did their bit to get me out there playing at an early age. Everyone was football crazy, and we were just a football family. We loved football and everything revolved around it, so I grew up with it and that’s how this passion developed.”
He joined amateur side Alemannia Mariadorf at the age of 4, where his grandfather, Richard, was chairman for so many years.
In 2009, he was signed by second division side Alemannia Aachen where he spent only a year in the club’s academy (not because he wasn’t a better player, but because he consistently attracted the attention of the scouts who come to watch him play every time) before joining Bayer Leverkusen at the age of 11.
“Kai was playing for Alemannia Aachen’s under-12s, he was a year younger than everyone else and playing against our [Leverkusen]’s under-12s,” said Slawomir Czarniecki, a youth coach at the BayArena. “I don’t remember exactly how the game finished, 8-3 for us I think, but he scored their three goals. That was my first impression of Kai.”
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 side, he was awarded the silver U-17, Fritz Walter Medal, before breaking into Leverkusen’s senior side the following year.
In October 2016, Havertz became Leverkusen’s youngest ever debutant in the history of the Bundesliga at 17 years and 126 days, coming on as a second-half substitute for Charles Aránguiz in a 2–1 loss to Werder Bremen.
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He scored his first goal for the club on 2 April, netting a later equalizer 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.
All of these he was doing as a secondary schoolboy. As a matter of fact, there was a time he had to miss a return leg of a Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid because the match clashed with his examination period.
“I had to do my secondary school exams at the same time as playing in the DFB Cup,” Kai Havertz explained. “I had an exam on Wednesday after an away game on Tuesday evening that went to extra time and penalties. I got home relatively late and had to do an exam the next day. I don’t want to talk about how the exam went!”
He didn’t stop there, 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.
Kai 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.
By 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 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 record to become the youngest-ever player to reach 100 Bundesliga appearances when he started in his side’s 2–0 defeat to Koln.
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Kai Havertz has been described as a technically-gifted, two-footed midfielder who is comfortable with the ball on either foot and adept with his head. During his formative years, his style of play drew early comparisons to compatriot Mesut Özil, with Havertz himself admitting the Arsenal midfielder was a player he looked up to.
Also, upon his impressive performance in subsequent recent years, Kai Havertz has generated arguments in the German media as he’s being likened to Leverkusen’s former midfielders like Michael Ballack, Arturo Vidal, and Toni Kroos.
At the tender age of 20, he has featured for the German U16, U17, and U19 national teams respectively. And with his rapid growth, a call up into the Diemaanschaft is imminent for the young lad.
At this stage, there are very few of his contemporaries who are experienced and also possess an amazing talent just like Havertz – as well as his growth.
