Arsenal’s Kai Havertz made an emotional return to Leverkusen, the club where he rose to stardom. Havertz, who played for Bayer for ten years before departing in September 2020 for FC Chelsea, will face his former team with Arsenal in the Champions League.
Havertz entered the BayArena press room and said, “It is wonderful to be back at my childhood club. I have already seen some familiar faces.” Among them was Slawomir Czarniecki, his first youth coach at Bayer. Havertz added, “When I went through the door downstairs, it felt like yesterday.”
Havertz Reflects on Injury Struggles
Havertz spoke for 14 minutes, reflecting on his return and his health after three successive injuries. “Sometimes that’s just football. I’ve never had such a difficult challenge,” he stated.
A knee injury sidelined him for over four months. “It was tough for me because I had never felt this pain in my life – and it just came suddenly. I had a lot of support at home – my family helped me a lot. But of course: two operations in a row are not easy.”
Looking forward, Havertz said, “I am professional enough to know that this is sometimes part of playing football. I am still young and hope that there are many years ahead of me. I am 100 percent fit and ready. I missed the feeling of being on the pitch with the boys. That’s why it was mentally hard. So I’m all the happier to be back. I want to be a threat in the penalty area again and help my team.”
Reunion and Recognition
His family will be in the stadium. “I would have expected more ticket requests,” Havertz joked. He expects a warm reception from the Bayer fans. “It’s nice that Kai is back here again. The contact with him has never broken off. He was and is an outstanding part of Bayer 04’s history. When he left us, we were a club that tended to play in the Europa League. Now we are in the round of 16 of the Champions League for the second time in a row. The fact that we are meeting Kai in the round of 16 speaks for our development since he left,” said Bayer’s sporting director Simon Rolfes.
Rolfes noted Leverkusen was able to build a championship-calibre team because of Havertz’s sale. Havertz responded, “I am very honoured that Simon said that. We also talked about it. But I have no part in it. The success belongs to the team that did it two years ago. In my time, we were unable to win a title. I knew.”