A proper Kai Havertz homecoming has been long overdue for Bayer Leverkusen.
Their academy graduate left Germany just under six years ago, when the world was a very different place. In the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak, football had only returned in a behind-closed-doors capacity when Leverkusen’s young star joined Chelsea in September 2020.
It was a big deal. Havertz was one of Europe’s hottest prospects towards the back-end of the 2010s — and Leverkusen knew it. The now 55-time Germany international had played four full seasons with their first team before his 21st birthday that June. He became the youngest player to reach 100 Bundesliga appearances at 20 years, six months and four days.
Simon Rolfes, Leverkusen’s managing director of sport, credited that sale, worth up to £90million ($113.8m), for the restructuring of the squad that resulted in their 2023-24 Bundesliga title win.
The former Leverkusen midfielder had a brief reunion with Havertz at a summer 2024 pre-season friendly in London and said before the Round of 16 draw that he wanted his side to draw Arsenal to see Havertz again. The 44-year-old got his wish, and will now watch on as the 26-year-old attempts to have a more direct contribution to Arsenal’s hopes of lifting their first major trophy since that behind-closed-doors FA Cup final defeat of Chelsea a month before the latter bought him.
In his first years in England with Chelsea, when speaking about his and Mason Mount’s respective roles, Havertz told The Athletic: “We float around a little bit, we want to go on the left side and the right. We are like ghosts for some defenders — it’s not easy to catch us.”
He spoke about how he developed that ability in his pre-match press conference on the eve of the Leverkusen tie. “When I was an academy player I just played wherever the coach needed it to be,” he said. “Sometimes obviously it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, but, honestly it’s the truth: for me I don’t mind, I just want to be a threat in the box, want to score goals, want to assist players, and I think that’s also my biggest strength, to be present in the box.
“But I also played left-back for the national team, so I think there’s not a lot of positions left anymore which I haven’t played.”
Havertz playing for Leverkusen in 2020 (Martin Meissner/Pool via Getty Images)
It has been a shame that Arsenal have not seen these qualities for the majority of this season.
Havertz has played just 363 minutes (nine per cent of those available) in 2025-26 because of two knee injuries before Christmas and a minor hamstring issue last month. Even with such limited exposure, his importance has shone through more often than not when on the pitch.
Mansfield Town away in the FA Cup on Saturday was his fourth start of the season, and the only one where his performance was not a blinding reminder of what manager Mikel Arteta has missed for 91 per cent of the season. The other three starts have come against Kairat, Sunderland and Leeds United. Including cameos off the bench, Havertz is up to 10 appearances for the campaign, and the most recent ones were critical to earning Arsenal crucial points.
Against Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion, his introduction allowed the Premier League leaders to wrestle back some control of the closing stages to secure wins. An effective target for goalkeeper David Raya to hit with long balls and intelligent enough to draw fouls to slow opponents’ momentum, the contrast he brought compared to Viktor Gyokeres was needed, and will continue to be over the next two months.
Arsenal have 12 games left this season at the least, and 19 at the most if they get to the FA Cup and Champions League finals.
There has been a focus on Arteta’s usage of Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice lately (Arsenal’s first and third most-used outfield players this season), but managing Havertz effectively through this spell is equally important. Of the manager’s striking options, his game is the most rounded. Whether it is as a lone striker or as a floater behind the main centre-forward, Havertz can glue a side together when needed.
“His main quality is that he makes you (as a team-mate) better somehow,” Arteta said in February. “The way he moves, communicates with you, gives you information and moves around. He’s a very difficult player to mark, and he opens up a lot of spaces for the rest of the players.”
Gabriel Jesus combines well with his team-mates, but does not have the physical presence of Havertz. He was an unused substitute in two of the three league matches the German missed through injury last month. The Brazil international started at third-division Mansfield, but when the crunch came in those top-flight matches against Chelsea and Brighton, it was clear which forward had Arteta’s trust.
Since Arsenal started competing for trophies again in the 2022-23 season, players earning Arteta’s confidence for the run-in has been key.
Havertz scoring against former club Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-finals (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Havertz did so in his debut year at Arsenal (2023-24), scoring nine and assisting seven goals in its final 13 league games. That season, Arteta named an unchanged line-up in the final five matches, with his men winning all five.
The run-in form of England midfielder Eberechi Eze at previous employers Crystal Palace (22 goals in 41 games between March and May for club and country in the past three seasons) could be another positive omen for Arteta, but timing will be paramount across the board. Eze may now have a run of games in the team, like he did earlier in the season, because of Martin Odegaard’s recent injury issues. Havertz has made three appearances in a week, but Arteta will want to avoid another injury costing him one of his most influential players.
“Now it’s been three weeks that he’s had total consistency in terms of training, preparation and gametime,” the Arsenal manager said ahead of the Leverkusen tie. “And we’re going to continue to roll that because we know how Kai can impact this team.
“He had difficult moments but that’s why we are here, and all his team-mates and family are there. Now he needs to really enjoy all the work that he’s put in to see the results at the end of the season.”
And what better place to start find that joy again than back at home? His old supporters may not wish him well during the match, but returning 10 years after his professional debut for the club, this tie could provide him with a moment that sparks even more success in the coming months.