‘I’ve waited 15 years for this moment’

A season that at times must have felt like a nightmare for Chelsea's German youngster Kai Havertz ended in dreamland when his goal sealed a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the Champions League final on Saturday.

The 21-year-old struck in the 42nd minute to give underdogs Chelsea a deserved win, instantly repaying a large chunk of the club-record 72 million pounds ($102.23 million) he cost when he joined from Bayer Leverkusen last year.

With impeccable timing Havertz scored his first-ever Champions League goal, racing on to Mason Mount's superb through ball and evading out-rushing City keeper Ederson before calmly rolling the ball into an unguarded net.

It capped a remarkable turnaround for Havertz who looked like a fish out of water earlier in the season as he struggled to get to grips with the demands of the Premier League.

He suffered a further setback when he caught COVID-19 in November, admitting that it took him two or three weeks to recover from the virus.

But all that was forgotten on Saturday as Havertz became the youngest German player to score in a Champions League final since Borussia Dortmund's Lars Ricken in 1997.

"I don't know what to say. I really don't know what to say. I waited a long time," Havertz said on the pitch. "I've waited 15 years for this moment and now it's here."