Interview with Kai Havertz

Get to know Kai in FOREVER. FASTER. style: 

Summer or winter?

Kai: Summer.

Your favorite snack? 

Kai: “Kracher” from the German brand Maoam.

Goal or assist? 

Kai: Goal.

Your favorite series?

Kai: Breaking Bad.

Your profession if you weren´t a professional football player? 

Kai: I´d be a hairdresser!

Cats or dogs? 

Kai: Dogs.

Your favorite PUMA product? 

Kai: I guess to say football boots would be to boring – I´ll go with a comfy PUMA training suit!

Kai, you’ve had an incredible career from a very young age. Starting as the youngest player in Bayer Leverkusen’s club history at the age of 17, becoming the second-highest paid transfer in the history of the German Bundesliga with a move to Chelsea. Now we can find you at Arsenal. Can you share a moment with us that stands out as particularly memorable for you?

Kai: Without a doubt, the Champions League Final in 2021, playing for Chelsea. Scoring the winning goal and the victory were incredibly emotional moments for me. I’ve been watching the Champions League with my family since I was a child, following every game. To then stand there in the final myself, was unbelievable for me.

Just recently, you scored the winning goal with a header. How do you prepare for these big moments?
Kai: Of course, you can never predict a goal. What’s important for me, though, is perseverance and discipline. I’ve had some tough months, but I always knew that my hard work would pay off. That’s how I approach these games. In the end, you get rewarded for it. It was very gratifying for me to score this crucial leading goal against Brantford.

Are you superstitious? Do you have any rituals that you always do before your games?

Kai: I don’t have a specific ritual like some others who like to put on their left shoe first before the right one. For a while, I tried to eat the same thing before every game. However, that didn’t really work out for me. We start every matchday with a pre-match meal, and then we listen to music together on the way to the stadium. That definitely gives us an extra boost; we like to listen to motivating music like hip hop, especially right before the match. And then it’s game time.

As part of the PUMAFam, you are part of our future, just like the FUTURE boot. PUMA’s FUTURE boot is guided by the motto “Free to move. Free to play. Free to create.” What does the FUTURE boot mean to you on the field?

Kai: It has always been crucial for me that my shoe is comfortable and doesn’t pinch anywhere. This has always been my top priority in order to enable free movements. The shoe has everything that is important in football. Stability and comfort, yet a lightweight. Free to move, indeed – you are fast on the pitch and can play well. The colors are also totally my style.

Are there already further projects planned with PUMA? If so, what are you looking forward to the most when thinking about these future projects?

Kai: I am thrilled to express my creative side and experiment with different colorways. To this day I still get excited like a little kid when I see new colors on cool football boots. Stay tuned!

We will! PUMA’s football history is shaped by names like Pele, Eusebio, Maradona, or Matthäus. If you could play on the field with one of these legends, who would it be?

Kai: Maradona. His name is huge in the world of football and he has an incredible story. I would find it fascinating to see how he used to play, even if his playing style from back then is quite different. But that might be precisely what’s so interesting – comparing an older technique with a newer one.