Bundesliga
"Havertz is the best player in Leverkusen's history" - Völler
Kai Havertz has been described as the best player in Bayer Leverkusen's history by managing director Rudi Völler ahead of Die Werkself's DFB Cup final against Bayern Munich on Saturday.
World-class stars such as Michael Ballack, Ze Roberto, Toni Kroos, Arturo Vidal, Bernd Schneider and Bernd Schuster may already rank among Leverkusen's best-ever players but the 20-year-old academy product already tops them all as far as Völler is concerned.
"We've had many good players through the history of the club at Bayer Leverkusen, but Kai Havertz is the best of them all," Völler told the DFB Cup final's matchday programme magazine.
Watch: Kai Havertz's roots
Havertz has led Leverkusen once again this season from both attacking midfield and as a centre-forward when needed. The Aachen-born Germany international scored a team-best 12 goals and added six assists during the Bundesliga season to help his side to a fifth-place finish.
He added a goal and an assist across his four appearances in the Cup to help Leverkusen reach their first final in over a decade, with wins over Alemania Aachen (4-1), Paderborn (1-0), VfB Stuttgart (2-1), Union Berlin (3-1) and Saarbrücken (3-0) along the way.
"He brings the ball through the smallest gaps," said Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick, the leader of Havertz's opponents for the final on Saturday. "He's a fantastic footballer, I've known him since he represented Germany's U17s and even then he already showed what he can do."
Long regarded as one of the club's most promising players, returning the DFB Cup to Leverkusen for the first time since 1993 would see Havertz's name immortalised as a club legend at the BayArena for all Leverkusen fans.