From seven touches to ‘volume’, how Kai Havertz leapfrogged Romelu Lukaku to emerge as Chelsea’s go-to No 9
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 05/04/2022 at 16:43 GMT
From a transfer “flop” to the winning goal in the Champions League final, Kai Havertz endured a roller coaster first season at Chelsea. Now, in his second campaign, he has elevated his level and emerged as Thomas Tuchel’s go-to centre forward, ahead of the player initially deemed the final piece of the puzzle – Romelu Lukaku.
Kai Havertz of Chelsea celebrates after scoring their sides first goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge on March 13
Image credit: Getty Images
This time last year Kai Havertz was viewed as a transfer “flop”. Search this yourself and you will find several articles placing him in lists of 2020’s worst summing signings.
Havertz had arrived from Bayer Leverkusen for £72m, but was struggling to make his mark in the Premier League, and by the end of March 2021 he had scored just the one league goal and four more in cup competitions.
That sorry start prompted pundit Micah Richards, not without reason, to claim it was a toss-up between Havertz and another Chelsea signing, Timo Werner, for the “Flop of the Year”.
In an article for the Mail on April 1 last year, Richards then added: “I hope both of them learn from this difficult season and come back to show their true potential.”
For Werner, it has been another patchy season, but Havertz has not only started to show his true potential, but he has kept out Chelsea’s club-record signing – the man initially deemed the final piece of the title-challenge puzzle – and emerged as Thomas Tuchel’s first-choice centre forward.
When Romelu Lukaku signed for £97.5m last summer, there was no disputing who would be Chelsea’s starting No 9. The Belgian was returning on the back of a 24-goal season in Serie A that helped Inter win the league, and his task was to do likewise in 2021-22 with the Blues.
‘Chelsea are Premier League favourites with Lukaku’ was a popular take, including here at Eurosport (sorry, Benjamin Snowball), and given the Champions League winners had strengthened their squad with a top-class striker, it was understandable.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2022/03/09/3334396-68168193-2560-1440.jpg)
Tuchel on Lukaku's state of mind and Chelsea's top four aspirations
Jorginho had been Chelsea’s top league scorer in 2020-21 with seven goals, but here was a striker who was seemingly destined to score 20-plus, and was therefore second favourite with the bookmakers behind Harry Kane to end the season with the Premier League Golden Boot.
Three goals in his opening three league games made for a promising start, and it helped justify the hype, but from there it quickly unravelled, with injuries and coronavirus leading to a bit-part role before that interview.
He was duly dropped for the match against Liverpool on January 2, and though he was reinstated to the starting XI for their next four games, he remained without a goal and – in a moment which could well enter Premier League folklore – recorded just the seven touches in the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on February 19.
Tuchel said it was "not the time to laugh", but he dropped Lukaku for the Champions League last-16 first leg against Lille on February 22, and left him out again against Burnley on March 5.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2022/04/05/3350279-68485848-2560-1440.jpg)
Kai Havertz replaces Romelu Lukaku
Image credit: Getty Images
In what was arguably the turning point, Havertz started and scored in the first leg against Lille, and was then Chelsea’s starting centre forward in the league for the first time since mid-December when lining up against Burnley.
What followed was two goals at Turf Moor, and then another start and goal against Norwich, and then another start and winning goal against Newcastle – and it was not just the goals that were impressing Tuchel.
“The players, they put themselves on the pitch,” Tuchel said, after the Burnley match. “He gives a lot of intensity and he’s involved in goals. He scored again, so it’s a very good moment and it’s on him to keep going. This is how it is.
“What he gives us is huge volume. He covers a lot of metres in high intensity, so he finds the intensity no matter what system the opponent defends against us, he finds intensive runs, he finds distances. This is what makes him and he uses his body more and more.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2022/03/15/3338242-68245113-2560-1440.jpg)
'We stand for peace' says Chelsea's Havertz
“He loves to create overloads and half spaces and this is what he gives. It’s just his style of play, his characteristic as a player. He’s in good shape, he’s confident.”
Tuchel stressed Havertz is in “really good shape” but added he will “need everybody”, including Lukaku, to help them in their push for top four, an FA Cup, and another Champions League.
How the 4-1 loss to Brentford impacts Tuchel’s thinking against Real Madrid on Wednesday remains to be seen, but it would appear Havertz – for now – has the better of Lukaku, offering a greater intensity and variety to his game, and therefore helping the Chelsea cause more.
That could of course change, but it seems the fire that was lit the moment Havertz scored the winner in last season’s Champions League final is burning brighter than at any point in his time at Chelsea so far.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article