With four goals and two assists in his last four consecutive Premier League games, Kai Havertz is in red hot form. The Arsenal forward is now putting his name forward for a starting position in Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany squad for Euro 2024 and according to Bild, the 24-year-old is now ahead of Niclas Füllkrug in the pecking order.
In Germany’s friendlies against Turkey and Austria in November, Havertz played at left-back and despite scoring one goal and playing 167 minutes across the two games, ultimately it was a failed experiment by Nagelsmann.
For Arsenal in the Premier League, Havertz is narrowly outscoring his xG (7.8) by 0.2 and is currently averaging 0.56 goals and assists per 90 minutes. The criticism for Havertz playing the No. 9 role for Germany is that he often goes missing. Far suited to playing as a No. 10 while making late runs into the area, that position is simply off limits to the German with both Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala at Nagelsmann’s disposal.
That means that the centre-forward position is the only one available for Havertz.
Who will Kai Havertz compete with?
Borussia Dortmund’s Niclas Füllkrug has scored 10 goals in 13 games for Germany since making his debut against Oman prior to the 2022 World Cup. With three goals in his last four games, Füllkrug has been Germany’s go-to forward but the Dortmund player has often been criticised for his lack of involvement in the final third for the national team.
Another player Havertz would be competing with is Deniz Undav. The Stuttgart forward, on loan from Brighton, earned his maiden Germany call-up after excelling in the Bundesliga this season. The 27-year-old has 21 goal contributions (14 goals and seven assists) in 22 games for Stuttgart this season, and is far more rounded than Undav, and would be an excellent addition to Nagelsmann’s squad.
There’s also a place in the Germany squad for Hoffenheim’s Maximilian Beier. Euro 2024 will likely be a tournament too soon for the 21-year-old, who has 12 goals and five assists in 25 Bundesliga games this season, but the upcoming friendlies against France and the Netherlands is an excellent opportunity for Beier to showcase what he can bring to the team.
