Kai Havertz

Kai Havertz is the player who scored the Champions League-winning goal for Chelsea in 2021 — a cool, composed finish that defined an era and announced him as one of Europe's most composed big-game performers. Born on June 11, 1999, in Aachen, Germany, Havertz arrived at Arsenal in July 2023 for £65 million, making him one of the most significant transfers in Mikel Arteta's tenure at the club.

Wearing the number 29 shirt at the Emirates, Havertz operates primarily as a centre forward or as an attacking midfielder depending on how Arsenal set up. His greatest strength is his versatility and football intelligence: at 6'2", he is exceptional in the air, but he is also comfortable receiving the ball at his feet, turning in tight spaces, and linking the midfield to the attack with clever hold-up play and intelligent movement.

At Bayer Leverkusen, where he grew up as a footballer, Havertz was already being compared to the great German playmakers before he had turned 20. His technical quality on the ball, his comfort in a press, and his ability to drift into dangerous positions from deeper zones made him one of the most exciting players in the Bundesliga. Chelsea signed him for £72 million in 2020 — a record fee that recognised his enormous potential — and he repaid that faith in full with his UCL final goal against Manchester City in Porto.

After a mixed spell at Stamford Bridge following that triumph, the move to Arsenal reinvigorated Havertz. Under Arteta's structured system, Havertz has found consistency and purpose, and his integration into the Gunners' pressing game has made Arsenal a genuinely different attacking proposition. With the 2026 World Cup ahead — hosted in the USA, Canada, and Mexico — Havertz enters this season as a key figure in both Arsenal's title ambitions and Germany's tournament preparations.