Kai Havertz finished the campaign at Arsenal in very good form, as he played a vital role in their charge for the Premier League title before he was rightly selected by Julian Nagelsmann for the Germany team hosting Euro 2024. He finished the club campaign with Arsenal scoring 14 goals in 51 appearances, which was a testament of his contributions to his team in his debut season. Elsewhere, Niklas Fullkrug finally left Werder Bremen after playing with the club for five years, and had a goal haul of 15 in 43 apps for Borussia Dortmund.
In the buildup to the tournament proper, Havertz and Fullkrug featured in the pre-tourney friendlies against Ukraine and Greece, and Havertz managed to bag a goal against the Greeks but never played the full 90. Fullkrug always came on as a sub for him, and it was evident that both forwards would share game time amongst each other in the competition.
First game against Scotland came along and Havertz put up a monster performance, scoring a penalty and providing an assist. Fullkrug replaced the Arsenal forward and in 27 minutes, he managed to get his first European Championships goal, a fizzling shot that left the keeper with no chance in Hell. In the second group stage game against Hungary, Havertz started played 58 minutes, had a rather ineffectual outing and was shunted out for Fullkrug. In the final group stage game against Switzerland, Havertz played 90 minutes against Switzerland and failed to find any headway in the Swiss goal but Fullkrug came on as a sub and scored the vital last-gasp equalizer for Germany.
With Fullkrug having a better output than Havertz in the tournament so far, a couple of fans have been clamoring him to get the nod ahead of the Arsenal man, and it’s an interesting conversation.
In a recent interview with Gambling.com, former German defender, Robert Huth, dropped his two cents on the Havertz vs. Fullkrug issue,
“I love an old-school number nine. That header against Switzerland was as good as it gets. It didn’t get too much of a mention really, but I thought it was a sensational header.”“Havertz obviously gives us a little bit more flexibility in terms of his movement. He can come short, he can spin. I think with Fullkrug on, we do tend to put the ball in the box quicker. He’s such a powerful lad and he has great finishing like he’s shown in the tournament already.”“I think it’s a really nice problem to have with these two options because you can change them if we’re desperate for a goal.”“I think it’s a difficult situation for Nagelsmann to see who is going to start against Denmark, because I think there’s an argument for Fullkrug to start, for sure.”
My take is that Nagelsmann should still stick with Havertz and I hope Germany put up a great performance against the Danes. The knockouts start today and I can’t wait to enjoy as a neutral.
Follow Gooner Daily on Twitter @goonerdaily.
Visit Gooner Daily’s Facebook page.
Click on the “Follow button” to join Gooner Daily’s Mailing List
