He's slender and wears the number 29 shirt on his back – and bayer Leverkusen fans, when watching the team's draw with Hertha Berlin last November, would have thought Havertz had returned to the club. The youngster, who came off the bench, will be a match for the club's best academy graduate ever, certainly not the Chelsea striker who returned to the club as a teenager. The player who is about to play and make his career debut is actually Zidane Sert Demir, wearing the numbers that Havertz once had here, and it is hoped that he will have a similar impact on the Bundesliga in the coming years as his predecessors.
"I think they gave me that number because they thought I was very talented and they thought I was going the same path as him," Sert Demir told the media, "It's great to be able to compare with him, now he's at Chelsea, sold for a lot of money, won the Champions League and scored in the final." But I don't think it's going to put extra pressure on me. "Sert Demir is considered one of Europe's top teenage geniuses and he and Havertz have a lot in common beyond his numbers. He has great technique, is an excellent passer, has surprising passing skills, and knows how to kick the ball into the goal – even if he is a little bit behind the goalkeeper of the 2021 Champions League final.
However, Sert Demir is not a player who trained in the Bayer Leverkusen system, and Havertz entered the academy system of the pharmaceutical company from the age of 11. In fact, Bundesliga powerhouse is his third professional club, travelling first from North Zealand to Brondby in his native Denmark at the age of 12 and then joining Bayer Leverkusen, a deal that could be worth as much as €2 million if he can become a first-team player. Arsenal, Ajax and Borussia Mönchengladbach are also reportedly vying for the midfielder, with Norders Jaran's league rivals Odense's manager Kim Ernstrom calling him "Denmark's best 16-year-old". Sert Demir's family, who are of Turk descent, was drawn to the move to Germany after being impressed by the way the Bundesliga has nurtured a large number of young talent in recent years, much of the reason for which went to Haaland in Dortmund.
"He has a special talent," Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rawlfis claimed when Sert Demir arrived at the team, but stressed that he would be "early" but "quietly" into the first-team squad. This led to Sert Demir training at Bayer Leverkusen first team while playing mainly for the club's U19 team. So far this season, Selter Demir has scored eight goals and assisted three times in 13 games. This form, combined with his five goals for Denmark's U17 team earlier this season, helped him win three substitute appearances for Bayer Leverkusen and became the youngest player in the team's history in the Bundesliga at 16 years and 276 days.
Named after his father's soccer hero Zidane, it's clear that 17-year-old Serte Demir is trying to follow the example of the former French and Real Madrid star in the game. He needs the ball and sometimes has to retreat very deeply to hold the ball, but even in the face of the opponent's high-position pressing, he can show his small skills to get rid of entanglement without fear, which often makes it difficult for opponents to break the ball from his feet. Sert Demir was born with a left foot and perhaps his biggest characteristic is passing. He often chooses passes that are obviously intended for his teammates rather than passes that other players never dreamed of, although his understanding of the game was sometimes too good for his own teammates.
The 17-year-old is also capable of handling set-pieces and he's not afraid to do his defensive job when needed, although Bayer Leverkusen boss Sevane still thinks some improvements need to be made if he's going to take the next step in his career. "With Zidan, you can see that he has a great play in the position between the two lines, but he still lacks enough physical fitness," he said of the 182-centimeter-tall teenager. These advances will surely come to Sert Demir, who will not only follow in the footsteps of Havertz, but also Julian Brandt and another rising star of the pharmaceutical company, Florian Wiltz, as key figures in Bayer Leverkusen. For a player who openly admits to his dream of one day winning the Ballon d'Or, the early signs are good. Who knows, he might do the same with Havertz!