Chelsea star Kai Havertz opens up on his ‘special relationship with donkeys’ | OneFootball

Chelsea forward Kai Havertz has explained how his love for animals helped him set up a charity foundation to help people and animals, emphasising his ‘special’ affection for donkeys.

During an in-depth interview with the Guardian, the 23-year-old opened up on his personal life, off-field activities and his understanding of football, among many other things.

Havertz admitted some of his Chelsea teammates call him ‘donkey,’ not due to his football but rather his strange love for the animal that stretches back to his childhood.

“Some of my teammates call me ‘Donkey’ – it’s not because of my football,” he said.

“From day one, I felt a special relationship with donkeys. It’s a very calm animal – maybe I personalised myself in them because I’m calm too.

“They chill all day, don’t do much, just want to live their life. I loved them always. And when I lost, I would go to the sanctuary.

“You look at the animals, see something human in them. It was a kind of recovery, a place I felt peace.”

Havertz’s love for animals has played a crucial role in launching his charity Kai Havertz Stiftung on Wednesday, hoping to expand his care for animal welfare to youth development and elderly care.

Although it may sound somewhat bizarre, the Chelsea star doesn’t see football as the ‘most important’ thing in his life, even though it pays his bills and secures him a luxurious lifestyle.

“Football’s not the most important thing in my life – other things are maybe 100 times more important,” Havertz continued.

“Maybe it’s not easy to say and people don’t like it, but it’s how I feel.”

He also tried to explain how things happen quickly in football, with players and coaches moving in and not virtually overnight.

“You have to adapt, build a relationship,” he said. “I played with Jorginho for two and a half years – he changed next to me. I loved being with him and then.

“He calls me one evening and says: ‘I’m gone’. I was like: ‘What the? How is this possible?’ This is how quickly things change. It’s a human thing. You just have to accept it – it’s football.

“It’s my sixth year as a professional and my seventh coach – in Germany, I had four or five and it’s three at Chelsea.”

He then looked back at Chelsea’s decision to splash out £72 million to bring him in from Bayer Leverkusen, making him the club’s most expensive signing at the time.

“I was Chelsea’s most expensive player,” he said. “I don’t understand how so much money is paid, but it is normal in football – look at our recent transfers.

“That brings pressure because people think you are Messi. I was still 20, 21. People don’t see that – they see the price so you have to be great from day one.

“You can feel it, the tension. You read it, hear it.”

Havertz left the Germany national team camp on the eve of their international friendly against Belgium due to injury.

He will undergo further checks at Stamford Bridge to understand the gravity of the situation.