Kai Havertz has said he is delighted after a young foal was named after him by Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary.

Kai Havertz is a huge fan of donkeys and has now had one named after him.

Kai the donkey has been pictured with a football.

The 24-year-old, who is on the verge of completing his £65million move to Arsenal from Chelsea, is a huge fan of donkeys.

He has previously said that they are his favorite animal and has campaigned against animal cruеlty.

The German international is such a huge fan of the animals that his nickname at Chelsea was actually “donkey”.

He said in an interview with the Guardian: “Some of my team-mates call me donkey. It’s not because of my football.

“From day one, I felt a special relationship with donkeys. It’s a very calm animal: maybe I see 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.

“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 grew up around rescued donkeys at a sanctuary near his hometown.

He now has the little foal at the Sidmouth sanctuary named Kai.

CEO of The Donkey Sanctuary, Marianne Steele, praised the former Leverkusen man for his work with donkeys.

She told the BBC: “Kai has proved to be a real champion of donkeys in every sense of the word.

“We are so pleased to have the opportunity to nаme our new foal after him and hope he will continue to inspire people to think about donkeys differently.”