Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich have recently shown their interest in the signing of Chelsea’s Kai Havertz. The German, who made his name in Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen has emerged on the radars of the Bavarians as they look to bolster their attacking options. However, the midfielder himself has addressed the rumours in his interview with Sky Sports Germany.
Havertz was a part of Chelsea’s colossal 2020 summer business, when the club had landed Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Hakim Ziyech, Edouard Mendy and Thiago Silva alongside the Leverkusen star. The Blues splashed a whopping £72 million on the acquisition of Havertz, who had just racked up 18 goals and 9 assists in 45 games in the 19/20 season. However, his big-money move to West London has turned out to be a sore one, often linking him with an exit.
Kai Havertz touted as Robert Lewandowski replacement by Bayern
Bayern Munich lost one of their greatest players this summer in Robert Lewandowski after he left for FC Barcelona. The striker’s departure created a huge void at Allianz Arena as they brought in Liverpool’s Sadio Mane to fill in. While the Senegalese possesses enormous talent, at 30-years-old he cannot be touted as a long-term replacement of the Pole at Bayern.
Moreover, Mane has penned a short-term contract, a three-year deal which runs till the summer of 2025. As a result, the German side wants a long-term solution for their striker position and hence have registered interest in Kai Havertz. While the 23-year-old is a natural attacking midfielder, he can operate as a center-forward as well. Since joining Chelsea, Havertz has been deployed as a center-forward for 40 games, which have reaped 14 goals and 4 assists from him.
Similarly, Bayern plan to use him as their center-forward and are ready to snap him up. Moreover, his experience of plying trade in Germany comes in handy as well since Havertz has 36 goals and 25 assists in 118 Bundesliga games. On the other hand, he himself has now laughed-off the interest from Bayern in his recent interview with Sky Sports Germany. Havertz said: “I heard about it [Bayern Munich rumours] on Instagram [laughs]. I cannot say anything about it – there was nothing at all. There were no talks.”
As evident, the 23-year-old versatile player is not yet ready to return to his homeland despite having a mediocre stint so far with the West Londoners. Havertz has earlier reiterated as well that he wants to succeed at Stamford Bridge after the club had shelled out £72 million on him. He has somewhat repaid the price tag after scoring the winner in club’s 1-0 Champions League final win over Manchester City.
A move to Bayern however seems highly unlikely at the moment since Chelsea consider Kai Havertz an integral part of their project under Thomas Tuchel. While he still has not peaked due to less goal contributions over his two seasons at the Bridge, Havertz has the potential to succeed in the Premier League.
But concerns still remain since Tuchel’s stance is unclear over the Germany international’s place in his starting eleven. The former PSG coach wants a proper center-forwar since losing both Romelu Lukaku [on loan] and Timo Werner’s permanent sale to RB Leipzig.