Germany’s Kai Havertz: ‘I make runs that look pointless but I’m creating space’

K ai Havertz is recalling the cocktail of feelings that swirled around his head in Budapest three-and-a-half weeks ago. Arsenal could not have lost the Champions League final in more agonising circumstances but the only available option was to straighten up and start smiling. They were due to set off on a bus around Islington for the Premier League trophy parade at 2pm the following day. Was this really the moment to bathe in a million onlookers’ adulation? “To be honest, it was tough,” says Havertz, whose early goal against Paris Saint-Germain had looked a possible winner for nearly an hour. “After the match, I initially thought we would call the whole thing off. By the next morning, things looked different.” It turned out that the mass of joy, colour and sheer emotional release proved resoundingly that the north London tour was appropriate . “We had a huge season behind us,” Havertz says. “The club had gone 22 years without a league title so that had to be celebrated properly with the fans. I have to say I’ve never experienced anything like it. So many people on the streets, so many supporting us. It ranks among my top three experiences as a professional.” Now he is immersed in the prospect of extending the list to four. Havertz is speaking at Germany’s World Cup base in Winston, North Carolina, where a sense of momentum is building. For one thing, Germany have a monkey off their back. …