The sporting world might have come to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic but the European football transfer market is still buzzing with some top clubs splurging huge amounts of money in order to secure the services of young players who could possibly be future stars.
One of those youngsters is a certain 20-year-old Kai Havertz, and top European Clubs like Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal are reportedly keen on signing him.
So, who is Kai Havertz, and why is he drawing so much attention from these top clubs? Let's take a look.
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Havertz plays for Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen at present. He has been with the club since he was 11 years old and became the youngest debutant in the club's history when he made his maiden appearance for them at the age of 17 years and 126 days, as a second-half substitute against Werder Bremen.
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That game was in 2016 and Havertz has since picked up four seasons of experience in the Bundesliga at a mere 20 years of age.
He has racked up 38 goals in a total of 139 appearances for the club but it was his performance last season, during which he racked up 17 goals in 34 games, that put Havertz at the top of the wishlists of some European giants.
With six goals and five assists to his name in 22 appearances, Havertz had been in fine form in the 2019/20 season as well. 23 of his 38 career goals have come in the last two Bundesliga seasons and that shows how the youngster has improved over the last two years.
High praise from the experts
Havertz also made his international debut for Germany during this period and has gone on to play a total of seven matches for them. Germany's manager Joachim Loew has said some very good things about the youngster as well, “To play such a season at 19 and score 17 goals is exceptional."
“With Kai Havertz I asked myself after the first time he trained with us whether he could’ve already been with us for a year or two,” Loew told Kicker.
"It seemed as if he’d always played with the others. I’ve seen that very, very rarely with a player before.”
Loew is a very tough man to impress and his excitement about the 20-year-old’s lends further credibility to Havertz’s potential.
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In fact, he is not the only man impressed with the youngster; Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri saw Havertz when they played against Leverkusen in the Champions League clash last year. Sarri was highly impressed with the way Havertz played as well and according to him, he is a complete player.
“He is a player who combines excellent physical qualities with great technical skills,” Sarri said during a press release.
“At the moment they are using him mainly as an attacking midfielder behind the central forward or as a winger. I think he is a complete player that could also play as a midfielder.”
Sarri's analysis of Havertz shows why so many top-flight clubs are after him. A player flexible enough to play in any role in the midfield and in the forward lines is very rare and hence, anyone would want to have him on their side.
Havertz's transfer is expected to cost no less than £90m and it would be interesting to see which club wins the race for him.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Miguel Riopa
