The German legend believes the talented kid should delay a transfer to the Bundesliga giants. Michael Ballack believes rising Bayer Leverkusen celebrity Kai Havertz is not ready for a move to Bayern Munich amid growing links to the Bundesliga champions.
That good form comes after he netted 17 times in the league round the 2018-19 campaign to attract plenty of transfer interest over the summer and recent winter window.
Bayern have a solid history of picking up the cleverest German talents and while Havertz would seem to fit the bill, Ballack believes a potential move at season’s end would still arrive too soon for both.
“At Bayern, you require other features to assert yourself. Just being good isn’t enough there,” Ballack told Sport1.
“[Havertz needs] the robustness to be mentally prepared for Bayern. He is still in the development stage and has mistakes in his game.”
The young midfielder is currently contracted to Leverkusen until 2022 with the Bundesliga club expected to demand in excess of $110m to let him leave early.
While Ballack has known for Bayern to demonstrate patience in any possible pursuit of Havertz, he does acknowledge the talented youngster is precisely the sort of player the club should look to signal later on.
“If the Bavarians act in perspective and you still have the promise to get the best German players, Havertz has to be brought in,” Ballack added.
Should Havertz move from Leverkusen to Munich he’d follow in the direct footsteps of Ballack, who himself swapped the very same clubs in 2002.
The German international took that from with him to Bayern where he struck 44 times across 107 Bundesliga appearances before he moved to Chelsea in 2006.
After four seasons in the Premier League, Ballack ultimately returned to Leverkusen for a further two campaigns before he hung up his boots in 2012.
Leverkusen are currently fifth in the Bundesliga, while Bayern are leading the league by one point to second-placed RB Leipzig.