Away from the pitch, Honigstein believes Havertz’s personality will stand him in good stead when it comes to adapting to a new club in a new country, with his homeland now very interested to follow his and Werner’s progress in the Premier League.
‘Havertz is an incredibly grounded guy, very smart, very considerate. Education has been very important to him and his family. He famously missed a Champions League game because he had to sit an A-Level exam. He’s a guy who defines himself by what happens on the pitch. He’s a football player through and through, someone who is committed to his craft.
‘Leverkusen are not necessarily a high-profile club despite their success competing in the Champions League regularly. They don’t have a huge fanbase, so it’s been easier for Havertz to develop slightly in a bubble outside of the harsh media light he would have perhaps attracted at places like Dortmund or Bayern.
‘German people don’t know much about him as a personality, so it’s quite intriguing for them to see this guy becoming one of the most expensive Bundesliga players ever. All of a sudden, Chelsea have gone back to the days of Ballack where a lot of people in Germany will be super interested how they do, because it is a bit of a German team now with these two new young guys there.
‘I don’t really have any reservations about him being a success in the Premier League,’ concludes Honigstein.
‘You can never be 100 per cent sure with injuries and this kind of stuff, but anyone who has worked with him and knows him thinks this guy is the real deal, and has all the qualities and promise and talent to be not just a success, but one of the best players for Germany in the last couple of decades. That’s how highly people rate him.’
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