Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano recently appeared as a guest on The Beautiful Game podcast, where he discussed the latest news on Chelsea’s interest in Bayer Leverkusen ace Kai Havertz.
Frank Lampard’s side have been heavily linked with the German international in recent months, which is perhaps unsurprising after his superb season in the Bundesliga, where he contributed 12 goals and six assists in 30 top-flight appearances, which saw him average an impressive 7.24 rating (per WhoScored). There has been a suggestion that Leverkusen’s asking price could prove to be a stumbling block for the Stamford Bridge outfit, but it seems as if Romano feels an agreement is close.
Here’s what the journalist had to say about the 21-year-old’s potential move to Chelsea on the podcast:
“The player has a total agreement with the club, the player wants to leave. In the case of Havertz, he’s really determined to leave the club this summer, he wants another option. You can understand why a player like Kai Havertz is trying to join [a] Premier League club and Chelsea are speaking with Bayer Leverkusen to find an agreement. At the moment, there is no agreement between clubs and the price Chelsea are going to offer to Bayer Leverkusen is around €80 million.
“[At the] moment, there is no agreement also about the instalments, about the add-ons, so they are speaking and in the case of Bayer Leverkusen, they also have to play in Europe, so they need time to finalise this agreement. I think it’s possible that he will be completed [in the] next weeks because the player really wants to join Chelsea.”
TIF Thoughts…
Chelsea have already spent big on the likes of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech ahead of next season, though it still seems as if they are also destined to complete the signing of Havertz in the coming weeks. As Romano suggests, Peter Bosz’s side still have the Europa League to contend with, so after its conclusion, perhaps we will see talks accelerated between the two sides with regards to the fee that Chelsea will have to pay.
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If the 21-year-old can produce the same sort of form for Chelsea that he did for Leverkusen last season, then there seems no reason why Lampard’s side can’t challenge for major honours next season, especially with the added attacking options of Werner and Ziyech.