Only in football is the one that is no longer compared.
Kai Havertz, 20, and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder, has already been used to many benchmarks: The "new Özil" called him the "world", the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" found his game similar to that of Toni Kroos. And Rainer Calmund, a Leverkusen-size expert, recognized in Havertz "a little Ballack, a little Beckenbauer".
Multiple talents
Such comparisons rarely do any good to a player growing up. And in the case of Kai Havertz they also fall short. Because it can already be guessed - after 91 Bundesliga appearances and three international matches - that this narrow-shouldered young professional from Aachen is in a way unique in German football.
Often great players have one or two particularly outstanding skills: Özil has his sense of space and the art of the last pass before a goal, Kroos his passport security. Ballack was goalkeeping and strong in the head like hardly any German midfielder in front of him. And Beckenbauer is the most elegant German player in history. "But Havertz distinguishes the diversity of his talents," says an employee on the staff of Joachim Löw DER SPIEGEL.
The national coach has basically recognized that he has with Havertz a player who could be influential for the game of the German national team, as it was Özil between 2010 and 2018.
44 direct goals in 91 league games
The offensive, central midfielder has an extraordinary technique to create dangerous situations for teammates in a small space. He prepared 19 goals in the Bundesliga. But he is also goal-scoring, scored 25 goals and has been directly involved in 91 league inserts at 44 goals. Michael Ballack was a player who often put his teams on the road to success with the first goal. Havertz scored in the past season nine times the 1-0 for Leverkusen.
DPA
Last season Kai Havertz scored nine goals for Bayer Leverkusen 1-0
In addition, Havertz is an extraordinary speed: 35.02 km / h were measured in the past season with him, making him one of the fastest in the league. In addition, Havertz is tactically so well-versed that he was able to play all positions in Leverkusen from the attack to the six before the defense. "This combination of different skills is rare," says the Löw confidant.
Against the Netherlands again only on the bench
But the national coach also has a problem with Havertz: On the one hand, many see him today as the best player in the Bundesliga. In a survey of the "kicker" after last season, 250 top-flight professionals voted him in first place. It is understood that he will leave Leverkusen in the summer of 2020 for a transfer fee beyond the 100 million euros.
On the other hand, Löw has not found a place for Havertz in his lavish national team midfielder Kroos, Ilkay Gündogan, seeded Joshua Kimmich and first challenger Leon Goretzka. Only in the test matches against Russia (3: 0) and Serbia (1: 1) in the spring, the 59-year-old put him in the starting eleven. Against Peru (2: 1), in the friendly match a year ago, he came on as a substitute two minutes from time. In all point games, however, where Havertz stood so far in the squad, he played no second.
It is unlikely that he will start in the two European Championship qualifiers against the Netherlands on Friday and Northern Ireland on Monday (both 20.45 / live ticker SPIEGEL ONLINE, TV: RTL).
The example Sané
"Kai is the player of the next few years," Löw said recently, meaning that his time in the national team is yet to come. "He looks very strong, but he still has to overcome hurdles, so in my 15 years at the DFB we've seen a lot of young players who have been pushed up and courted and had to bottom out," Löw told the "kicker".
DPA
Leroy Sané has matured after the World Cup in Russia to support the DFB team. Currently he is missing injured
One of these courted players was Leroy Sané. The wing-winger drove as the best young pro of the Premier League for the World Cup preparation 2018. But Löw managed before and also in the training camp in South Tyrol not to integrate him into the team, then left Sané at home, which later often as a birth defect of the desolate World Cup was designated. After Russia, Sané was set for Löw by storm - until his cruciate ligament rupture at Manchester City in August. It was also a late insight.
As far as convinced the national coach at Havertz is not yet. "We want to see whether Kai can compete with the league in international comparison," says the Löw confidant. With Leverkusen Havertz plays this year Champions League.
But the national coach sees quite the danger that too much is expected of him too soon. This is another reason why they welcome the decision by the DFB that Havertz will play in Leverkusen for another year, even though FC Bayern have already made contact this summer. "It all happened very fast for Kai, sometimes it was almost a bit too much for him, even physically," said DFB Director Oliver Bierhoff. He hopes, according to Bierhoff, that he can continue to grow in Leverkusen in a "professional, quiet atmosphere".
It is then expected that in a few years, any young, gifted player is compared with Kai Havertz.